I was perusing the iTunes App Store for iPad-only items this morning. I thought that I could rely on some of the reviews posted over the weekend to help me make better decisions about the software. But, after looking over several of the paid apps, a startling trend emerged for me; there are a number of reviews written BEFORE the iPad released on April 3!

Some of these might be explained by the handful of tech pundits and press that received advanced units, but that would be very few. When you check on the authors, you see other reviews that make it clear that they are NOT press.

So I started wondering about the entire process. Its obvious that the chances of these people having access to the app was almost nil, yet they posted something that other buyers will assume is true. How often does this happen at Amazon or other online shopping sites?

Perhaps the answer is that the merchant themselves need a better system in place, one that only lets you post a review of an item that you have acquired and on the same account? While this could still be manipulated or subverted, its much more difficult and would likely reduce “review spam” to a minimum.