Apple cleans up spam, tweaks interface in iTunes Ping

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Though spammers quickly flocked to Apple's fledgling social network last week, most of the bogus surveys and other unwanted comments were removed by Monday.



Soon after it was unveiled last week, Ping was inundated with spam, as comment sections on many popular artists' pages were filled with links to items like phony surveys. But by Monday, that spam was all but removed from the service.



Ping also initially had a number of fake accounts, with users posing as Apple executives, including CEO Steve Jobs and designer Jony Ive. Many of those accounts had also disappeared by Monday.



In addition, Apple made minor tweaks to the Web-based interface of Ping, adding "back" and "forward" buttons that were missing when the service launched last week alongside the release of iTunes 10. The buttons make it easier for users to navigate the Ping service, which can only be accessed through iTunes.



On Friday, Apple revealed that Ping had enlisted more than a million users in its first 48 hours. About a third of the people who downloaded iTunes 10 activated the service, said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet services.



But despite the initial success, Ping was also met with some criticism by members of the press when it launched last week. Some, including Peter Kafka of MediaMemo, complained that Ping does not analyze a user's entire music library. Instead, it only considers items that were purchased through the iTunes Store.



Ping has also been criticized for its lack of connectivity with other, larger, and more established social networks. Facebook last week reportedly blocked API access to Ping after the company failed to reach an agreement with Apple. Chief Executive Steve Jobs alleged that Facebook demanded "onerous terms" for the two parties to work together.







Apple touted last week when unveiling Ping that it has 160 million iTunes users with active credit cards in 23 countries. The new service allows users to "follow" artists and friends, allowing them to see popular songs within a group and hear about upcoming concerts.
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 64
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Death penalty for spammers..........
  • Reply 2 of 64
    I like Ping. 'nough said.
  • Reply 3 of 64
    Most user libraries are rife with outdated I D 3 tags or poorly maintained info. So, it would be a mess for this info to be included really. Apple would have to parse this info, correct, complete & reformat it. Many people have used outdated apps to import music, have not had Internet access to complete album info when importing, or have not maintained their libraries metadata. Plus, this would provide the R I A A with another means to identify potential P 2 P downloads & begin a new round of persecution. As we all know from the music industry's reliable, credible & independent data, nearly 100% of music on iPods is stolen. Of course, zune's are not included as their owners are honest & law abiding & they realize the damage that P 2 P can create



    Cheers !
  • Reply 4 of 64
    While I personally don't mind, I think some people would raise privacy concerns of them scanning their library. Also, as some have mentioned above, some people don't properly keep tabs on their library and are missing a lot of things in their tags.
  • Reply 5 of 64
    I wouldn't mind having my library scanned. Genius does it anyway.



    I do buy from iTunes, but also bleep.com, cd rips small label mp3 stores.



    I think Ping needs to include the whole library and integrate with facebook and twitter while also offering an instant message functionality. Their goal is music based social networking....these things are essential
  • Reply 6 of 64
    This was obviously coming but it's good they did it quickly before it go too out of hand
  • Reply 7 of 64
    29922992 Posts: 202member
    well, if APPL can scan our libraries for "the Genius" feature, then for sure they can do same for Ping/Pong.

    However, for myself, Ping/Pong doesn't show up in my iTunes10, so, I cannot subscribe.

    Well, even if I could, I'll not. :P
  • Reply 8 of 64
    After 4 days interacting with it I've come the conclusion...Ping is pants!



    Maybe I need another week or so or some useful tips to maybe appreciate what Mr Jobs is getting all excited about. Maybe it's the additional dollars. I've already bought a dozen tracks that I have no idea why.



    Following artists around somehow feels a bit like stalking and creepy. It's all just promotional blurb. Go to xyz.com and download this song. Money making machine...period.
  • Reply 9 of 64
    It does seem Apple like to only scan the songs you've bought off them. Hopefully they'll flesh this out, and make it more oriented to enjoying and discovering new music rather than clicking the 'buy' button. Have they made it easier to add friends, or do you still have to add them on one by one?



    Still waiting for Facebook connectivity.
  • Reply 10 of 64
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sandman619 View Post


    Most user libraries are rife with outdated I D 3 tags or poorly maintained info. So, it would be a mess for this info to be included really. Apple would have to parse this info, correct, complete & reformat it.



    Other systems like last.fm seem to have no real problems with this. Neither does Genius, btw. I have lots of non-iTMS music that Genius is capable of using in its playlists.
  • Reply 11 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Though spammers quickly flocked to Apple's fledgling social network last week, most of the bogus surveys and other unwanted comments were removed by Monday....



    Still not touching it with a ten foot pole until they fix the gender/name thing and make it a bit more inviting and useful.
  • Reply 12 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    Still not touching it with a ten foot pole until they fix the gender/name thing and make it a bit more inviting and useful.



    I can't figure out why this is a problem. Facebook is gender-specific and uses real names, but somehow when Ping does it, it's a problem.
  • Reply 13 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr Underhill View Post


    After 4 days interacting with it I've come the conclusion...Ping is pants!



    Maybe I need another week or so or some useful tips to maybe appreciate what Mr Jobs is getting all excited about. Maybe it's the additional dollars. I've already bought a dozen tracks that I have no idea why.



    Following artists around somehow feels a bit like stalking and creepy. It's all just promotional blurb. Go to xyz.com and download this song. Money making machine...period.



    Yeah, almost every "feature" of Ping is basically just for the record companies, not the end users.



    They want your gender, age and real name so they can market crap to you. Nobody on the actual Ping service cares about that stuff so the only reason it's there is to service the data miners who want to sell you crap.



    This is the same reason they won't scan other titles in your library besides the purchased ones. It's not that hard to do, they just don't care about music you already had. They want to know what you bought, and by extension what you are likely to buy next. Again, so they can *market* to you.



    This is fairly obviously the whole point of Ping. It doesn't seem to have much to do with social networks to me at all. Ping is less a social network and more of a live a marketing survey.



    Typical of Apple to think that a trip to the virtual mall is "social networking." I've been following them since the beginning and IMO they just don't "get" social at all.



    You can't have everything. You can be a cold-hearted aesthete that designs excellent hardware, or you can be a social, happy sort that's great at networking. The first kind of people can't do the social and the social people couldn't design hardware to save their life. Steve Jobs has all but admitted that Apple is the former, and that their talents don't extend to working well with others or in fact, "socialising."
  • Reply 14 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Chief Executive Steve Jobs alleged that Facebook demanded "onerous terms"



    Oh... the... irony.



    Steve, it kinda sucks when companies demand onerous terms, doesn't it?
  • Reply 15 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TimUSCA View Post


    I can't figure out why this is a problem. Facebook is gender-specific and uses real names, but somehow when Ping does it, it's a problem.



    Well I'm not sure what Facebook offers and I never said it was only a problem cause Ping did it.



    If Facebook does it, it does it for the same reasons, marketing and data collection/mining, which is essentially my point. Nowhere on the interface can you even tell what gender someone is. The information is collected for marketers, there is no opt-out, and no choice other than male or female.



    If they wanted to be decent to their users, all they have to do is change the pull-down to "male, female, not stated." If they wanted to be progressive they might add a few other choices, there are easily tens of thousands of iTunes users that are neither male nor female (based on intersex statistics).



    I'm not, but I have friends that are of indeterminate gender, and I have friends that are female but don't necessarily want anyone to know that online. I have at least three friends who regularly put the opposite gender on forms just to screw over the form maker because they fell it's a private question.



    The bottom line for me with Ping, is who is the "social network" really for? If it's for the consumers, then why not give them some options? If it's for the marketeers, then put it up front that this is the reason for it's existence. let the record companies hand out coupons and advertisements to the users if that's what it's really all about.



    Above all, don't call it a social network when it's not designed for that.
  • Reply 16 of 64
    I'm hoping it will become more useful soon. I'm a music professor and spend upwards of $150 per month on iTunes. Mostly jazz (what I teach). Yet my recommended artists?- Lady GaGa and Shakira. what am I, 17 years old?
  • Reply 17 of 64
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    It is a wait and see with Ping. Many of my favorite artists are not there. It is annoying that my music isn't scanned so the artists recommended for me to follow would fit my tastes. This is especially odd since I was asked about what music genre I listen to. Apple needs to focus on getting all of the artists on Ping then it will be a real success. The fixes they've implemented are much welcomed. It would be nice for Facebook and Apple to work their differences out but each has their own agenda.



    Also, it would be nice to be able to search by lyrics and genre too. Searching by artist alone kind of inhibits the discovering new music bit.
  • Reply 18 of 64
    Quote:

    Peter Kafka of MediaMemo, complained that Ping does not analyze a user's entire music library. Instead, it only considers items that were purchased through the iTunes Store.



    Why would I want Ping to sniff my entire hard drive's worth of music, bringing my computer to a crawl? To the contrary, I'm sure he'd be whining about privacy if his request was realized.



    Feel sorry for Apple. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.



    Ping is out for 23 minutes and people are bitching about how there aren't any musicians and/or people to follow!
  • Reply 19 of 64
    enzosenzos Posts: 344member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    Why would I want Ping to sniff my entire hard drive's worth of music, bringing my computer to a crawl? To the contrary, I'm sure he'd be whining about privacy if his request was realized.



    Feel sorry for Apple. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.



    Ping is out for 23 minutes and people are bitching about how there aren't any musicians and/or people to follow!



    My feelings exactly. Tempting but won't jump on board straight away and won't expect too much until the creases are ironed out and some non-juvenile acts are signed up.
  • Reply 20 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Smiles77 View Post


    I like Ping. 'nough said.



    I gave it a halfassed once-over and didnt see how it would benefit me, but I've sense had friends trying to connect with me and feel the same way as you do about it so I will probably give a more thorough look.
Sign In or Register to comment.