Application spam detector

1. A method for performing an application search, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processing device, a search query from a remote device;

determining, by the processing device, a consideration set of applications based on the search query, the consideration set indicating one or more applications corresponding to the search query;

for each application indicated in the consideration set:

determining, by the processing device, a number of source objects published by a developer of the application;

for each source object, determining, by the processing device, a number of feedback units attributed to the source object;

determining, by the processing device, whether the application is potential spam by:

determining whether the number of source objects exceeds a source object threshold; and

when the number of source objects exceeds the source object threshold, determining i) whether at least a minimum percentage of the source objects have less than a first threshold of feedback units attributed thereto, and ii) whether all of the source objects have less than a second threshold of feedback units attributed thereto, the second threshold of feedback units being greater than the first threshold of feedback units, wherein the application is identified as potential spam when at least the minimum percentage of the source objects have less than the first threshold of feedback units attributed thereto and all of the source objects have less than the second threshold of feedback units attributed thereto;

when the application is determined to be potential spam, applying, by the processing device, a penalty to the application;

generating, by the processing device, search results based on the consideration set and any penalties applied to the one or more applications indicated in the consideration set, the search results indicating one or more of the applications indicated in the consideration set; and

providing, by the processing device, the search results.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the penalty comprises removing the application from the consideration set, such that the consideration set no longer indicates the application.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a result score for each application indicated in the consideration set based on the search query and application data of the application.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein applying the penalty includes multiplying the result score of the application by a reduction factor.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the search results comprises ranking the applications in the consideration set based on the respective result scores of the applications in the consideration set.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein applying the penalty includes:

comparing a title of the potential spam application with the search query;

when the title of the potential spam application does not match the search query, applying the penalty to the potential spam application; and

when the title of the potential spam application does match the search query:

determining whether another application in the consideration set has a title that matches the title of the potential spam application; and

when another application in the consideration set has a title that matches the title of the potential spam application, only applying the penalty when the result score of the other application is greater than the result score of the potential spam application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the search results includes transmitting the search results to the remote device via a network.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the search results includes feeding the search results to a subsequent search process.

9. A search engine for performing an application search, the search engine comprising:

a storage device;

a processing device that executes computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions, when executed by the processing device, causing the processing device to:

receive a search query from a remote device;

determine a consideration set of applications based on the search query, the consideration set indicating one or more applications corresponding to the search query;

for each application indicated in the consideration set:

determine a number of source objects published by a developer of the application;

for each source object, determine a number of feedback units attributed to the source object;

determine whether the application is potential spam by:

determining whether the number of source objects exceeds a source object threshold; and

when the number of source objects exceeds the source object threshold, determining i) whether at least a minimum percentage of the source objects have less than a first threshold of feedback units attributed thereto, and ii) whether all of the source objects have less than a second threshold of feedback units attributed thereto, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, wherein the application is identified as potential spam when at least the minimum percentage of the source objects have less than the first threshold of feedback units attributed thereto and all of the source objects have less than the second threshold of feedback units attributed thereto;

when the application is determined to be potential spam, apply a penalty to the application; and

generate search results based on the consideration set and any penalties applied to the one or more applications indicated in the consideration set, the search results indicating one or more of the applications indicated in the consideration set; and

provide the search results.

10. The search engine of claim 9 , wherein applying the penalty comprises removing the application from the consideration set, such that the consideration set no longer indicates the application.

11. The search engine of claim 9 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further cause the processing device to determine a result score for each application indicated in the consideration set based on the search query and application data of the application.

12. The search engine of claim 11 , wherein applying the penalty includes multiplying the result score of the application by a reduction factor.

13. The search engine of claim 12 , wherein generating the search results comprises ranking the applications in the consideration set based on the respective result scores of the applications in the consideration set.

14. The search engine of claim 11 , wherein applying the penalty includes:

comparing a title of the potential spam application with the search query;

when the title of the potential spam application does not match the search query, applying the penalty to the potential spam application; and

when the title of the potential spam application does match the search query:

determining whether another application in the consideration set has a title that matches the title of the potential spam application; and

when another application in the consideration set has a title that matches the title of the potential spam application, only applying the penalty when the result score of the other application is greater than the result score of the potential spam application.

15. The search engine of claim 9 , wherein providing the search results includes transmitting the search results to the remote device via a network.

16. The search engine of claim 9 , wherein providing the search results includes feeding the search results to a subsequent search process.