Apple Changes Ranking Algorithm For App Store Searches?

TechCrunch reports Apple seems to have changed how they rank apps within the App Store search results. Prior, having the keyword in your app’s name would tend to work well in terms of ranking the app in the app store. Now, according to several app developers, Apple is also ranking the apps based off of […]

Chat with SearchBot

App Store IconTechCrunch reports Apple seems to have changed how they rank apps within the App Store search results.

Prior, having the keyword in your app’s name would tend to work well in terms of ranking the app in the app store. Now, according to several app developers, Apple is also ranking the apps based off of download numbers and maybe even reviews.

It seems as if Apple is weighing the app names and keywords less in their app store search ranking forumlas.

My company has several apps in the market, and I noticed a ranking change for several of the apps. Whereas some of my paid apps that had really high rankings saw a small drop in rankings replaced by free apps that likely have many more downloads.

The poplar example is searching for a [city] plus parking keyword phrase, like [chicago parking]. Notice how Best Parking is number one, then Central Parking, followed by an app named [Chicago Parking].

App Rankings

I’ve tested this on a few of my apps and there definitely seems to be a change in ranking, where free apps with higher download rates are currently ranking higher even for keywords that do not match best.

Related Articles:


About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.