Microsoft addresses bulk apps again, limits certification from 20 to 10 per day

We have seen complains about spam apps blocking up marketplace rise and Microsoft has once again stepped up to take action against these junk app publishers.

Writing at the Windows Team Blog Todd Brix,Senior Director, Windows Phone Marketplace have re-iterated the rules on differentiating apps, saying apps must have “distinct, substantial and legitimate content and purpose”, but more importantly, Microsoft has reduced the number of apps a publisher can have certified in one day. 

They write:

Effective Friday 9/30 we are limiting the number of apps that can be published in a single day without prior agreement to 10. This means that no more than 10 apps by the same developer will be certified per day (down from 20). In addition we will monitor the number of apps published – not just certified – in a given day and be more proactive in correcting instances where the 10 app limit is exceeded. This may include the unpublishing of apps, and in extreme cases, temporary or permanent suspension of an offending developer’s Marketplace credentials.

They re-iterated the rules once again:

• Unique apps can only be published in a single category. Any duplicate apps showing up in other categories may be unpublished, per the Windows Phone Marketplace FAQ’s
• When applying similar templates to multiple types of apps, we recommend differentiating apps through unique iconography, titles and other metadata to help potential customers make informed decisions about downloading apps.
• As mentioned in application certification requirement 2.10, apps must have distinct, substantial and legitimate content and purpose. Differentiation between your apps can help meet this requirement.
• There are several ways for your apps to be featured in Marketplace on the phone and now on the Web. Apps are featured by category based primarily on their number of downloads and customer reviews. The same is true for the cumulative top and free sections. The New panorama that makes up the background is algorithmic based on timing.

Hopefully we will see significant clutter in the New Apps category.

Read the full post at Microsoft here.