WakeApp: Apple has improved the search in the App Store

Last week, Apple made a number of updates to the Russian search for the App Store App Store. Details about the changes App2Top.ru told the company WakeApp.

Apple is gradually changing its search. Tries to make it more useful for both users and developers. In particular, the “apple” company seeks to solve the old problem with poor findability and low visibility of applications in the store.

Now, according to rumors, a team of 100 people is working on a comprehensive search change. We have already observed some of the results of their work earlier. For example, relevant query hints were introduced in the American App Store (we wrote about them in June), and as part of the latest WWDC, it became known about the imminent introduction of contextual advertising.

Last week in the Russian App Store we noticed another innovation – the expansion of the semantic core of all applications. Now the application is located not only based on the name of the application and the list of keywords formulated by the developer, but also on relevant queries selected by the App Store algorithm.

As a result, applications (including games) began to be located on a larger number of keys. For example, we found that one music application began to be shown by 114 new additional keys. Unfortunately, it was not without problems. Some of the new keys had nothing to do with the application, they were useless. In fact, there were requests with errors and irrelevant applications.

This is especially clearly seen in the new keywords for the game World of Tanks. The semantic core of the game has increased by 90 requests. But not in the best way. Here are just some of them: “auto simulator”, “armada”, “army calendar”, “attack of the turret”, “household appliances”, “aircraft simulator”, “sim city”, “car dealer simulator”, “homeless simulator” and so on.

The point, apparently, is that in the keyword and description there is the word “simulator”, to which the algorithm has clung.

Among the new Fishdom keywords that Apple is targeting, there are also a lot of strange ones. For example, “hunger games”, “spongebob games”, “mario games for free”, “ninja turtles games” and even “erotic games”. However, it should be noted that “teenage mutant ninja turtles” and “SpongeBob” are quite in the subject, but already at the level of associations.

Another Russian hit Shadow Fight 2 also seriously increased the semantic core, but the “lawlessness” is much less. Of the brightest, it is possible to single out only those that are quite appropriate to the game “iPhone apps for free”, “lego ninja” and “ninja fruits”.

Is such an innovation good?

As a result, the ASO becomes less unambiguous. You can appear in the search without adding keywords in the name, but at the same time you can lose traffic and drop in the search due to the automatic addition of irrelevant applications to your query.

The event is also ambiguously evaluated by the CEO of WakeApp Eduard Lebedev: “It is already becoming clear that with the new algorithm it will be easier to select keys and less effort will have to be made to attract users for narrow queries. But the real picture of what quality users will come thanks to the new search algorithm can only be assessed after some time.”

What should I do?

Build ASO by selecting only basic queries. For example, now the App Store for the application to be shown for the queries “tank simulator”, the word “simulator” in the title and keywords is enough.