In the ASO Monthly-series, we reflect on the previous month and shed a light on trends in app store optimization, algorithm changes, insights in conversion rate optimization and tool updates.
This update was prepared by Aude Boscher, who is the ASO Manager at Bonial, a company helping retailers driving in-store sales by delivering personalized content to engaged shoppers wherever they are in the digital world.
July 3 — Google Play search results appear in a loop and other bugs
A glitch in Google Play search results has first been reported by members of the ASO Stack Slack: search results loop in every 5 apps on mobile and every 50 apps on desktop (as shown by TheTool).
Results in loop by Dmitry Zakharov
- At the beginning of the month, ASO Stack Slack member Pablo Samper notices that Google Play doesn’t display any results in Similar Apps section. The issue is reported to be solved at the end of the month as reported by Catherine Sibirko.
- Like in May, several ASO Slack Community members reported on a bug in their Play Console User Acquisition section as well as in the store listing experiment, with data not displaying correctly. As usual, don’t panic, data will eventually appear in the console.
July 5 — Apple downloads ranking temporary change
Luca Giacomel noticed a potential test on a new formula to compute the download ranking on the App Store, which impacted most apps strongly for a couple of hours. It’s unsure if Apple might’ve been testing a new ranking algorithm or that it was just a temporary glitch.
Ranking Change visible in several countries in AppAnnie
July 16 — Global App Revenue increased by 28% year-over-year during first Half of 2018
As Sensor Tower reported, App Store and Google Play users spent a combined $34 billion on mobile apps and games in the first half of this year, a 28% increase in comparison to the first half of 2017 ($27 billion) with similar growth on both stores. App downloads were less pronounced, with App Store at 10,6% versus Play Store at 13,1%, explained by a higher Android adoption rate in developing countries.
July 18 — Apple releases public beta of iOS 12
… together with macOS Mojave, and tvOS 12 for testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program. While Apple focused on under-the-hood improvements for iOS 12, they also worked on building a comprehensive set of time management and focus tools. It also includes some updates on the App Store:
Personalization:
- Like its Android rival, the App Store in iOS 12 could provide a more personalized experience based on content the users previously downloaded. iMore explains that apps and games should stay the same but previous days’ content is now under “You May Have Missed,” and it includes only some previously posted content which might of more interest to the users instead the past seven days.
- A new function called “Personalised Recommendations” in Account settings
Search Results and algorithm change:
- Developers and stories appear in search suggestions.
- Anatoly Sharifulin tweets about possible algorithm changes under iOS12 as search results aren’t the same…
via Ilia Kukharev, in ASO Slack group
July 26 — Search Ads campaigns creation available in new storefronts for Advanced accounts
Following their announcement about Search Ads extension in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Spain, Apple confirmed release dates. Search Ads will be available in all storefronts from August, 22 from 10 am (PDT), while advanced accounts were given the chance to creating their campaigns from July 26 to go live on August, 1 from 4 pm (PDT).
Meanwhile, most tools are getting prepared for the release and now include Search Ads data for new countries. SearchAdsHQ and ASOdesk already include the storefronts in their tools.
July 26 — Android P launch is coming soon, latest beta release
Android “P” is the upcoming major version of the Android operating system and is about to become a reality for millions of people using Android as the company announced the release of Beta 4. Android Police listed all the features spotted so far.
July 30 — First release date of an app now displayed on the Play Store
Besides the latest update date of an app which has long been displayed on Google Play, the first release date is now shown on mobile devices when tapping on “Read More”. First spotted in March on Android Police, this information comes handy for users to know how long Android apps have been on the store, or to get information on an app rebranding or relaunch.
Screenshot shared by Ilia Khukarev on ASO Stack-Slack
Tools Updates:
AppTweak now gives access to a series of handy ASO tools for free, including auto-suggest, counter and shuffle for keyword research https://www.apptweak.com/free-aso-tools
AppAnnie introduces paid and organic downloads dataset https://www.appannie.com/en/insights/product-announcements/our-advertising-data-just-got-even-better-introducing-paid-organic-downloads/
Tomorrow comes Today… AppFollow now gives the ability to see Today tab featuring for the next day https://appfollow.io/today
YellowHead launches data visualization for app store optimization https://venturebeat.com/2018/07/29/yellowhead-launches-data-visualization-for-app-store-optimization/
Interesting Posts:
A Mid-year Report on Trends in Mobile Measurement for 2018 https://www.tune.com/blog/a-mid-year-report-on-trends-in-mobile-measurement-for-2018/
App Store Optimization Tutorial — Tracking Keyword Optimizations by Incipia https://incipia.co/post/youtube-videos/app-store-optimization-tutorial-tracking-keyword-optimizations/
Following Tune study, StoreMaven wonders what new data on reinstalls means for ASO https://www.storemaven.com/tune-app-reinstalls-data-impact-app-store-optimization/
Guide to the Cost-Effective App Promotion in Social Media https://thetool.io/2018/app-promotion-in-social-media
“Offering more flexibility in how users can pay for apps will be critical in driving future monetization” — App Stores and Monetization editorial on Tech.pinions https://techpinions.com/app-stores-and-monetization/53274
The Highest Rated iOS Apps and Games of All time, according to app store users https://sensortower.com/blog/highest-rated-apps
200 A/B Tests Later: How We Learned To Create Paid Content That Sells https://mobilegrowthstack.com/paid-content-testing-182677e003b6
Thanks, that’s it from us for July!
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Previous ASO Monthly editions:
- June 2018: Google Play algorithm change, Search Ads attribution API broken
- May 2018: App Store Creative Testing, Google I/O 2018 impact…
- April 2018: ASO Monthly #24 April 2018: New Play Store design in detail, Web apps for iOS…
- March 2018: New features — redesigned Play Store listings, App Video Trailers, Google Play Instant…
- February 2018: New Play Store beta search interface, keyword dances happening.
- January 2018: Installs via Keywords on Google Play, new design of App Store web.
- December 2017: Search Ads Basic, Introductory pricing and pre-orders on App Store etc.
- November 2017: Black Friday in the Stores, APK size vs. Play Store conversion rate
- October 2017: New Search Ads countries, Play Store installs per search term coming (?)
