Last month Apple released its latest iOS update, 9.3, with seemingly no innovation in the App Store app on Apple devices. The only thing that changed was the description preview; the last algorithm change published was back in November. But roughly around the time of the iOS 9.3 update release, we noticed some interesting things happening in the search results in the US iTunes App Store. How did we notice these changes? One of the things we do at my company, Moburst, as part of our app store optimization (ASO) service, is develop proprietary technologies to help our clients find wider audiences. One of the tools we’ve developed scans the app stores for changes in trends and behaviors. In mid-March, this tool began showing some interesting insights. Initially we thought this might be a glitch, but it appears to still be there.
What we observed was a change in how the search algorithm deals with typos and bad spelling, among things. It seems Apple has adjusted the App Store algorithm to consider what people search for and what they click on once the search results are displayed. For example, when we searched for “ubber”, we got the Uber app but also Lyft. For the query “uper”, we actually got Uber in front of an app named uper!
Why is Apple doing this? We can only guess. Clearly, Apple wants to improve app discovery amid the mass of apps in the store, and this might be another test aimed at improving the current search engine.
While this change is small and hard to notice, it’s pretty significant from a developer’s point of view. This is the first time apps have appeared in the search results for terms not included in the app name, developer name, or keyword field. If Apple’s algorithm takes into account app popularity with users in search results, this means more exposure to already popular apps.
Writer - Liam McClelland | @Liamicy