# ASO Monthly #3: July 2016

- Link: https://phiture.com/asostack/aso-monthly-3-july-2016-171539d0abee/
- Published: 2016-07-11T09:51:11+01:00
- Author: Moritz Daan

#### Google Play to start testing with 2nd ad and much more…

![ASO Monthly #3- July 2016 ](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ASO-
Monthly-3-July-2016-min.png)

Read about everything that happens in ASO in July. New features, new tools, algorithm
changes and more.

You can find the previous digests here: [May](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-1-may-2016-kick-off-edition-81ab00984a96#.17gimp7up),
[June](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-2-june-2016-99b191f11256#.ynyvpx6sm).

### **July 6: AppStoreOptimization.io**

[apppstoreoptimization.io](http://www.appstoreoptimization.io/) now supports custom
font uploads for generating annotated screenshots for the app & play store.

### **July 8: Categories tab indeed replaces Explore in iOS 10**

In June Apple announced at WWDC that the category tab would come back in the App
Store, but it was unclear where this would sit. It now appears that it replaces 
the Explore tab, which was underused anyway, and that it moves places with the Top
Charts, which now sits in the middle. Strategically choosing the right category 
becomes more important again.

What’s more is that the most 3 popular categories are now showing up on top.

⌊categories ⌉⌊categories ⌉

### **July 21: On Impressions & AppFollow update**

[Peter Fodor](https://medium.com/u/bfa77e4a4d3b?source=post_page-----171539d0abee----------------------)
shared an interesting insight in the impact of being featured on the front page 
of the App Store. He noticed that one of his clients who got featured in the U.S.
on the Featured Tab, got some 8M App Icon Impressions on Tuesday and 18M App Icon
Impressions on Wednesday:

A quick check with one of our clients, showed a peak of 2.5M daily impressions on
the day of frontpage featuring in the UK.

Also today, Appfollow [announced a new update](https://blog.appfollow.io/appfollow-v1-13-keywords-chart-windows-store-support-compare-tool-and-api-da7cb21d55b7#.r3xw0qu1u)
with more keyword graphs & API options.

### **July 13: Excellent post on using rich tags on Google Play**

Must-read: [Boomerang reports](http://blog.boomerangapp.com/2016/07/rich-formatting-app-store-optimization/)
on how they increased their conversion with 16% by using rich formatting in their
Google Play Store description. An often overlooked tactic that you can use to highlight
your value proposition.

### **July 22: Google Play adds second ad to the search results**

[ThomasBCN](https://medium.com/u/991bcd095ddf?source=post_page-----171539d0abee----------------------)
shared an exclusive about second ad placements coming to the Play Store.

### **July 24: Google reduces and shows download & update sizes**

See [http://technewshunter.com/android/google-plays-new-algorithm-reduces-and-reports-the-actual-app-download-sizes-15861/](http://technewshunter.com/android/google-plays-new-algorithm-reduces-and-reports-the-actual-app-download-sizes-15861/)

⌊marvel content of champions⌉⌊marvel content of champions⌉

### **July 27: Google Play adds and renames categories**

Later this year, Google Play [renames](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113475)
these two categories:

![google play renames](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/google-play-
renames-min.png)

Also, it adds the following categories:

 * Art & Design
 * Auto & Vehicles
 * Beauty
 * Dating
 * Events
 * Food & Drink
 * House & Home
 * Parenting

#### **Interesting further reading on ASO in July:**

 * [SplitMetrics](https://medium.com/u/70fcdade9c11?source=post_page-----171539d0abee----------------------):
   [Early Search Ads Experiments Promise Great Performance for Apple’s New Advertising Platform](https://splitmetrics.com/blog/search-ads-experiments/)
 * [ThomasBCN](https://medium.com/u/991bcd095ddf?source=post_page-----171539d0abee----------------------):
   [Presentation on Google Play A/B testing at APS](http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasBCN/aso-ab-testing-your-store-listing)

#### **Thanks, that’s it from us for this month!**

**If you like the ASO Monthly series, please click the 💚 button below. **Also make
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Let’s discuss in the comments, and like always: if you have noticed anything related
to ASO, please let me know on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/moritzdaan) or reach 
out to **moritz.daan@phiture.com.**

**Previous ASO Monthly editions:**

 1. [**May 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-1-may-2016-kick-off-edition-81ab00984a96#.xmhrhfadq)**:**
    App Store broken + 5 localized store listing experiments…
 2. [**June 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-2-june-2016-99b191f11256#.1eob99dpb)**:**
    Announcement search ads…