Over at Ars Technica a little investigation has uncovered something unusual on the Google Play page for BBM for Android. The page for the new messaging application, which is version of the famous BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) software, shows a fairly obvious pattern. Most of the comments seem to be copied and pasted. The worst thing about it is that the copied text is particularly awful.
The comments, which all read as some variation of “Thank you so much Blackberry team. I was waiting this app. It is really great user friendly and smooth,” all give the application five stars. Many of them come from accounts that have done absolutely nothing else on the Play store, and most don’t have pictures attached.
BBM for Android review
The reigning opinion about BBM for Android, which was released earlier this week, is that the application is fast and responsive, but it simply isn’t fully functional right now. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) will continue to update the program with new features in the months ahead, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem in six months’ time.
There is something obviously questionable about the Google Play reviews of BBM for Android. One of the comments on the review page read “Please post the following comment on the new BlackBerry Messenger Android APP.” That’s not the kind of thing that people write by accident. If somebody is trying to manipulate public perception of the application, they’re doing a pretty awful job of it.
Many fans of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) have been “waiting this app” for a long time. Its release has already been dogged with problems and mistakes from the Canadian handset maker. Review manipulation becoming a headline just days after release is not a good development for BBM for Android.
BBM for Android trouble
BBM for Android finally works. The abortive original launch of the application at the end of September has been forgotten, at least by those who never bothered to check the application in the couple of hours it was available. Blackberry had some kind of problem with a leaked version of the application that caused data load on the servers to be more than the company could handle.
The recent release of BBM for Android is an important one for BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB). The company is facing hard times, and an existential crisis. People around the world are apparently singing; “Thank you so much Blackberry team. I was waiting this app.”
