Apple has a short but sweet message to iOS developers who are looking for ways to game their apps’ rankings on the App Store: Don’t do it. In a posting to the news page on Apple’s developer site, the company says:

Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership.

Apple’s post would seem to be a response to recent allegations of “bot-farming” – using services that download apps using dummy accounts repeatedly, in order to drive up App Store rankings. Game news site PocketGamer has details.