FTC ruling sees PR agency removing fake iPhone game reviews from iTunes

PR agency Reverb Communications, a PR firm that represents many game publishers and developers, including Rock Band creator Harmonix and iPhone developer IUGO, has settled charges with the FTC after favourably recommending apps the company was paid to promote.

The FTC ruled that between 2008 and 2009, employees at Reverb posted positive reviews of games on the App Store, posing as impartial consumers. However, the games in question were made by clients of the PR firm.

MobileCrunch broke the story last year, pointing out users who posted 5-star reviews on a select series of games, and found the that hired interns were responsible for “writing influential game reviews.”

The PR company has since settled on the topic, choosing to remove all reviews that misrepresent the author, instead of dragging out the lengthy legal debate.

The PR’s PR, Casey Lynch, told Kotaku that “rather than continuing to spend time and money arguing, and laying off employees to fight what we believed was a frivolous matter, we settled this case and ended the discussion.”

Last year, the FTC introduced a number of new rulings regarding endorsements and testimonials online. The biggy? “Material connections between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed.”