Review sites have a proposal for the publicity-hungry iPhone developers. A lot of websites devoted to iPhone app reviews are urging the developers to pay in exchange for write-ups of their apps, according to Wired. com. These payments are not divulged to the readers.

However, it is not considered illegal to ask for money in lieu of viewing a product. Critics say that this practice should raise questions regarding the reliability and independence of the review sites.

iPhoneAppReview. com and AppCraver. com are the two sites that are mentioned by programmers who contacted Wired. com. These come in the in the top four Google search results when the term “iPhone app review“ is typed.

The challenge that developers are facing these days is to rise above the crowd of more than 150,000 apps in the iPhone App Store. Sales can be increased if one gets good reviews on the web.

App review websites are trying to accelerate reviews by bringing apps to the front of the review queue, but in exchange for a fee.

The iPhone App Review’s Editor-in-chief Shaun Campbell, who was not aware that his site’s writers were requesting payment in exchange for reviews, said, “I have never once sent a request for a fee to a developer to review their app. That is not our policy, which is why that is not stated in the About”.

It should be explicitly disclosed on that review, every time a review is written in exchange for pay, shared Rich Cleland of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection