Apple Takes Down Crypto Podcast

[SneakyLady]

https://cointelegraph.com/news/apple-removes-crypto-podcast-reportedly-ranked-4-in-investing-from-us-itunes-store

“Last week we released a podcast discussing the ultimate argument for Bitcoin. It exploded & ranked #4 in US investing category before mysteriously being taken down by @Apple. We had no warning. We don’t know why. They took down our podcast, but they can’t take down Bitcoin!”

Fuck this censorship. Where did the freedom go?

What is the significance of such an act?

[jseverson]

What is the significance of such an act?

There are apparently theories that it has something to do with gaming the keywords:

Despite initially seeming like Apple’s move to take down cryptocurrency-related podcasts is a sign of their animosity towards cryptocurrency, some Twitter users believe that the podcast was actually removed as a result of a “keyword stuffing,” which is when an app, podcast, or website, that uses long titles filled with keywords in order to rank higher on search results

We won't know for sure until we hear from Apple itself though, if that ever happens. It's also possible that they broke some other iTunes agreement, considering it's a private platform at the end of the day. I'd put down the censorship pitchfork, for now.

[BrewMaster]

i find the following part very strange:

Last week we released a podcast discussing the ultimate argument for Bitcoin. It exploded & ranked #4 in US investing category

we are talking about bitcoin and we all know although we are so enthusiastic about it, in the world in general people aren't (otherwise price would have been $1 million already).

on top of that currently price is not shooting up like last year. if this was from last year for example during the rise from $9k to $20k then it might have made sense to gain that kind of fast popularity but not now that price has been falling then becoming stable. there simply isn't as much enthusiasm about "investing" in bitcoin as it was before.

.... with that said i find that kind of increase in ranking strange. maybe they were doing something that broke the Apple ToS which led to removal of their video.

[HeRetiK]

That's what happens when you rely on a private platform. Welcome to the world of walled gardens.

That being said, it does indeed rather seem like them trying to game the system and breaking Apple's ToS, rather than a direct attack on crypto. Not everything is an attack on our freedom, sometimes it's just people getting served for not playing by the rules.

Regardless of who's at fault, this wouldn't have happened if people (meaning both consumers and content producers) wouldn't put themselves into the hands of centralized services as much. It's the cost of convenience, I'm afraid.

[abanansah]

You should have enquired from apple support service why it was taken down before concluding that it was censorship toward a crypto product. This is FUD and it don't help the community. I know a lot of crypto product that still on apple.

[kryptqnick]

Wow, it's great that the podcast was such a huge success and if it naturally happened so (I believe the screenshots are accurate), Apple actions are completely unjustified. Cryptocurrencies have their right to exist and a podcast can say that fiat is doomed and banks should adapt or die. However, I do agree with BrewMaster that the fact of such an 'explosion' seems weird. If as many people as reported by such cases, some polls etc. really new about cryptos, there would be a lot more blockchain wallets than there are. Well, anyway, perhaps the podcast creators payed for a huge amount of downloads by people from developing countries and Apple shut it down due to suspicious activity. Let's wait for an official explanation.

[jseverson]

-snip-

Apple needs to have a clearly defined limit on their titles if you can't have long stuffed titles, rather than hoping you didn't hit an invisible wall that bans you when you do well. What a joke.

They apparently did:

https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/28/report-recent-app-store-algorithm-change-points-to-crackdown-on-keyword-stuffing/

They can't set an arbitrary character limit though, because some brands have longer names than others. I don't think this was a personal attack. People are just way too quick to scream censorship nowadays.

[SUDARMONO]

I think that is very detrimental to you, and you should be more careful in taking action, and so that things don't happen again, and so that everything can run smoothly in the future.

[kelaxo76r]

In spite of at first appearing as though Apple's decision to bring down cryptocurrency related podcasts is an indication of their enmity towards cryptocurrencies, some Twitter clients trust that the podcast was really brought down because of a "catchphrase stuffing," which is the point at which an application, web recording, or site, that utilizes long titles dispatched with keywords with the end goal to rank higher on search results.

[Kakmakr]

When Apple changed their algorithm to curb "Keyword stuffing", it impacted a lot of Apps and they asked developers, to upload new versions of the app with a shorter title. So they gave the developers an opportunity to correct their mistakes, because they changed the rules.

If the podcast in question broke the new rules, then Apple should grant them the same opportunity to change something to adjust to the new changes. Was this done on the content or the title of the podcast?

It will be interesting to see what Apple has to say about this. 

[Herbert2020]

Fuck this censorship. Where did the freedom go?

well it is a centralized platform that has certain rules that needs to be followed. you can't start calling it censorship when they remove something that is breaking their rules. and that is what the video was doing. and they are just making a big drama out of it and for good reasons: publicity! it is like free advertisement for their future posts...

secondly if they don't like the rules so much then they can stop using that platform. nobody is forcing them to post stuff on app store

[bitfocus]

Any reply from the app store authority? why don't you contact the directly asking the reasons?

[Pursuer]

Any reply from the app store authority? why don't you contact the directly asking the reasons?

if you read the topic  before making a post here you can see that somebody already posted a link that seems to be answering your first question here.
as for the second one, I assume that there are two reasons for this. first is the fact that people always love making drama and are too fast with branding stuff with things such as "censorship" which is clearly what these people have been doing. second is that I think the content creators saw this as an opportunity to advertise themselves while playing with user's emotions.

[dupee419]

I don't know if there is any particular reason on why they took it down, it's very weird and I don't even think that it should be halted since there is no valid reason, well, if they stopped the podcast and it reached a lot by now, then I think a lot of people have even recorded or have listened to it by now, it is a big help, and I think that the influence is strong, don't mind Apple, I think they have their own valid (hopefully) reason.

[Renal]

I think you should be more careful in doing an action so that you will not experience big losses and endorse you better than today so that you will never be wrong and act.

[Jackolantern]

I think that such powerful company like Apple which likes innovative technologies and always works on the development of updates will use btc benefits in the nearest future to the full extent

[DennyPen]

Bet it will re-open podcasts once the bear market comes to an end 

[BuyBuyBitcoin]

For anyone who wants to hear the actual podcast "the ultimate argument for bitcoin" that got them to #4 in the app store

Murad Mahmudov: The Ultimate Bitcoin Argument (Off the Chain with Anthony Pompliano)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMK_A0mF8PQ

It might be one of most convincing discussions you'll hear this year as to why bitcoin is so undervalued currently by people.