Apple App Store and Google Play users are taking their displeasure out on CNN and other news sites by giving the companies’ mobile apps one star reviews, citing the outlets’ liberal bias.
According to Digiday, in the last few weeks CNN has been hit by a wave of one star reviews, with over half of these reviews accusing the company of having a liberal bias.
Other targeted publishers include Mic, Quartz, and USA Today, who have also been slammed by users upset over the companies’ biases, with two-thirds of reviews on USA Today citing its liberal leanings.
Due to the fact that CNN’s app is well established and has received thousands of reviews over a number of years, the negative reviews haven’t had a significant impact on the the app’s overall rating.
However, for recently released apps such as Mic’s, which was launched two weeks ago, the negative reviews are having a greater affect on the average rating.
“Low reviews affect the ranking of an app in the top charts, which decreases app discoverability and, in turn, means fewer downloads, which would continue driving them further down the top charts,” said Amir Ghodrati, a director of market insights at the app analytics business App Annie.
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