Apple changed the App Store algorithm so that its apps appear less in search results

In an interview with The New York Times, Apple directors Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue revealed that the company has tweaked the App Store algorithm to limit the unusually high frequency of applications. governmental “in search results.

Previously, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal published reports that the App Store on iOS displayed a lot of Apple apps whenever users typed in popular search terms. For example, when you type “music”, the App Store not only displays the Apple Music app, but also produces up to 7 other apps developed by Apple in the top 10 search results.

Apple says that this comes from a feature in the App Store’s app ranking engine: apps from the same developer will usually be displayed together. This feature may be useful, for example, when customers search for “office”, they can see most of the office applications in the Microsoft suite of applications.

However, it is the excessive popularity of “genuine” Apple applications that make this grouping of app problems. Part of the reason is that some iPhone and iPad owners often use the search box in the App Store to find apps already installed on their phones. When users click on an Apple app in search results, they accidentally helped increase its popularity compared to third-party apps.

In the case of the “music” search above, Apple Music would rank first. But other Apple apps like GarageBand, iTunes Remote, Music Memos, iTunes Store, iMovie and even Clips will be in the next positions – meaning Apple Music rivals, like Spotify, will have to be very struggling to attract attention from users.

On July 12, Apple disabled the grouping feature of the algorithm aimed at Apple applications. The New York Times quoted data from Sensor Tower, which showed that this change made a clear difference:

” On July 12, the ranking of many Apple apps in popular searches has dropped significantly. The top search results for the keyword ‘TV’ that previously showed 4 Apple apps are now only available. 2. The keyword ‘Video’ and ‘maps’ from 3 reduced to 1. And Apple Wallet is no longer ranked No. 1 when searching the keywords ‘money’ and ‘credit’.

It seems that Apple apps like Apple Music will still often be at the top of the search results list, but other less relevant Apple apps will no longer come with it. .

Apple does not call this change a “fix”. Company leaders claim their algorithms work perfectly, and this change was made to give other developers more access to their customers. Grouping features will still be maintained for 3rd party developers.

As the monopoly of major technology companies continues to be a controversial issue, Apple’s move to “give way” to the App Store shows that this is truly an open and fair app market. with application developers.

Mr Schiller said Apple did not intentionally design a search feature to direct users to download “genuine” applications: ” We will show results based on what we think the user wants.”

Reference: 9to5mac