My Fix for the iTunes App Store (and Android Market)
There are almost a hundred thousand apps that shouldn’t be in Apple’s iTunes App store. They look a lot more like SPAM than apps and we all have seen them (30 apps with almost the same logo with slightly different names are just SPAM). I have a solution for Apple (and all other app stores): charge a yearly maintenance fee to keep an app in iTunes. Right now Apple charges developers $99 to have a developers account, but there is no limit or cost for adding apps. I propose a low $99/app/year fee to keep an individual app in the market.
I agree with a per-app-fee, but 99 is way too much! A lot of developers in especially the android market, offer their apps for free and make apps for their personal enjoyment, not money. It would hugely demotivate those developers if they would have to pay this kind of money for apps that they do not make money on. These developers already put in 50 bucks to be allowed to post in the market which they won’t get back (nor would want to get back).
I think the android reporting feature could solve a lot of this; report a spamming developer and he has to pay another 50 bucks to get back in the market because his account gets removed…
So, maybe you should add that it would have to be about paid apps or rely on a reporting feature.