# ASO Monthly #7: November 2016 - Link: https://phiture.com/asostack/aso-monthly-7-november-2016-a16cf91d4ac6/ - Published: 2016-12-05T12:55:07+01:00 - Author: Moritz Daan #### Google Play to add Conversion Rate Benchmarks and much more… ![ASO Monthly #7- November 2016 ](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ ASO-Monthly-7-November-2016-min.jpeg) After a great round of guest bloggers for ASO Monthly in the last months, including [Peter](https://medium.com/u/ae0050886f84?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)( M&C Saatchi) and [Gabe](https://medium.com/u/6827ce31c75c?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)( Incipia) and [Maximilian](https://medium.com/u/d6241b879daa?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)( Phiture), I’m writing the November edition again. If you’re into ASO and want to do be part of ASO Monthly, let’s talk! In the [**ASO Monthly**-series](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/) we aim to provide App Store Marketers an objective and full overview over **emerging trends **in app store optimization**, algorithm changes**, **new** **conversion rate tricks **and **tool updates**. ### **Our November ASO Overview:** ### **November 4: Google Play adds conversion rate benchmarks** Google launched a new feature in the Play Developer Console that now allows you to benchmark your store listing view to install conversion rates against the category median. Previously it’s been hard to size the opportunity for further app store conversion rate optimization as there were no solid benchmarks per vertical. Whilst the benchmark that Google gives you doesn’t let you zoom in on your direct competitors, it does give you a better understanding of what’s possible within your category. What’s else is that the country benchmarks can help you identify issues with your regional conversion rates, and take action on your localization for example. ![conversion rate benchmarks](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/conversion- rate-benchmarks-min.png) There are some caveats when using the benchmark data, for which you should definitely read the [great blog post](http://incipia.co/post/mobile-app-marketing-industry-updates/google-adds-country-conversion-rate-benchmarks/) that Incipia published on how to use this data. ### **November 7: Hundreds of Fake apps get removed from the app store** With Black Friday and the rest of the shopping season around the corner, Black Hat ASO with fake apps and rip-offs is rampant. Shady developers submitted hundreds of apps trying to get a portion of search traffic for brands like Zappos and Nordstrom, [Apple finally removed them](http://www.macworld.com/article/3139393/ios/apple-just-removed-hundreds-of-fake-shopping-apps-from-the-app-store.html). ### **November 8: Google: “nearly half of searches are broad searches”** Earlier this year both Google and Apple announced that 2/3rds of _all_ app installs that come from search (read [ASO Monthly #2](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-2-june-2016-99b191f11256#.ft0d37sxw)). We’ve pointed out that whilst this is a lot, the vast majority of those installs might be branded installs (users wanting to reinstall an app after device upgrade, TV ads, etc.). Google however now published a blog post around semantic indexing that gives us a clue about the opportunity: ⌊app discovery with google play ⌉⌊app discovery with google play ⌉Nearly half of the queries are broad searches, meaning: 67% (via search) x ~ 45% (nearly half of which) = 30% comes via broad searches, which clearly shows the opportunity for keyword optimization. #### 󠀁[**App Discovery With Google Play, Part 1: Understanding Topics**](https://research.googleblog.com/2016/11/app-discovery-with-google-play-part-1.html)󠁿 #### 󠀁[Every month, more than a billion users come to Google Play to download apps for their mobile devices. While some are…](https://research.googleblog.com/2016/11/app-discovery-with-google-play-part-1.html)󠁿 #### 󠀁[research.googleblog.com](https://research.googleblog.com/2016/11/app-discovery-with-google-play-part-1.html)󠁿 ### **November 9: ASO Black Hat presentation** At the eMetrics summit, I gave a 1-hour talk about the topic of Black Hat ASO and published the slides on SlideShare. In the second part of the presentation, I talk about the different types of Black Hat ASO, how to recognize if a competitor is cheating their way to the top, and how to behave yourself. ** [Black Hat ASO – Presentation eMetrics](https://www.slideshare.net/MoritzDaan/black-hat-aso-presentation-emetrics)** from **[Moritz Daan](https://www.slideshare.net/MoritzDaan)** _My Black Hat ASO presentation at eMetrics._ ### **November 15: App Store purchase more apps, deleted ~ 340% more apps in October** Apple started their announced clean-up of old low-quality apps: SensorTower reports that they removed ~ 47,300 apps in October. Even with the uplift in removals, the net outcome was app growth. Still, the removal of these apps — which often got served in search results above those of high-quality from active developers — is very welcome as it will hopefully bring trust back with the user that it will be possible again to discover high-quality apps via search. #### 󠀁[**Apple’s big App Store purge is now underway**](https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/15/apples-big-app-store-purge-is-now-underway/)󠁿 #### 󠀁[Earlier this year, Apple promised it would clean up its iOS App Store by removing outdated, abandoned apps, including…](https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/15/apples-big-app-store-purge-is-now-underway/)󠁿 #### 󠀁[techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/15/apples-big-app-store-purge-is-now-underway/)󠁿 ⌊apps removed from the app store by month⌉⌊apps removed from the app store by month⌉ ### **November 19: Google Play search results show installs links and cards** [9to5google reports](https://9to5google.com/2016/11/13/google-play-search-results-direct-install/) that Google is gradually rolling out the new cards with installs buttons that should increase UX as it’s just one click to install when looking for a specific app. ⌊google rolling out the new cards with install buttons that should increase UX⌉⌊ google rolling out the new cards with install buttons that should increase UX⌉ ### **November 24: A new list of Apple’s bonus keywords** There are many words that you don’t need to target in your precious 100 characters keyword set. Incipia did some research and found up to 19 different words that you don’t need to specify. The list includes previously known words such as “app”, “ free” and the category names, but then also adding new insights as “for”, “by”: [http://incipia.co/post/app-marketing/15-free-aso-keyword-ranking-algorithm-keywords/](http://incipia.co/post/app-marketing/15-free-aso-keyword-ranking-algorithm-keywords/) ### **November 29: Google Play cracking down on review fraud** Product managers Andrew Ahn & Buddhika Kottahachchi from Google Play, [write](http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2016/11/keeping-it-real-improving-reviews-and-ratings-in-google-play.html) in the Android developers blog that they’re doubling down on fraudulent reviews. They did mention fraudulent reviews in [October](http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2016/10/keeping-the-play-store-trusted-fighting-fraud-and-spam-installs.html) too, but that post was more focused on fraudulent installs. #### **Further reads on ASO:** * **Using Mechanical Turk for Keyword Research: **[Jay Van Buiten](https://medium.com/u/eb084236b7ee?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------) writes on [Stefan Bielau](https://medium.com/u/bc17dfe99bb7?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)’ s blog about a practical and cheap tip on how to use mechanical turk to do qualitative research to get a grip on how people would search for an app in the app store: [http://appstoreoptimization.tumblr.com/tagged/mechanical-turk](http://appstoreoptimization.tumblr.com/tagged/mechanical-turk) * **Facebook launches instant games: **[http://www.businessofapps.com/facebook-launches-instant-games-providing-another-reason-people-not-leave-apps/](http://www.businessofapps.com/facebook-launches-instant-games-providing-another-reason-people-not-leave-apps/) * **Screenshot study by Incipia: **Great comparison of which best practices the top 100 apps use in their screenshot strategy: [http://incipia.co/post/app-marketing/app-store-screenshots-study-of-the-top-100-apps/](http://incipia.co/post/app-marketing/app-store-screenshots-study-of-the-top-100-apps/) * **Tune report suggests videos are critical for getting installs: **[https://www.tune.com/blog/app-videos-critical-getting-installs/](https://www.tune.com/blog/app-videos-critical-getting-installs/) * **Coverage from APS Berlin: **[http://www.businessofapps.com/app-promotion-summit-berlin-2016-live-coverage/](http://www.businessofapps.com/app-promotion-summit-berlin-2016-live-coverage/) * **Screenshot tool Appure.io adds per-screen layout configuration: **[https://appure.io/changelog](https://appure.io/changelog) #### **Thanks, that’s it from us for this month!** **If you like the ASO Monthly series, please click the 💚 button below. **Also make sure to follow the [**ASO Monthly**-series](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/) or sign up to the left so that you’re the first to hear when the next edition comes out. 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.** #### **Other 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… 3. [**July 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-3-july-2016-171539d0abee#.46k8iu40h)**:** Google Play Store testing with 2nd ad… 4. [**August 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-4-august-2016-505a4f53523#.arqtgnkth)**:** Simplified screenshot submission… (by [Peter](https://medium.com/u/ae0050886f84?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)) 5. [**September 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-5-september-2016-32e45947eac9#.6ey54n2fy)**:** 50 character title-rule… (by [Gabe](https://medium.com/u/6827ce31c75c?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)) 6. [**October 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-6-october-2016-86c51c536f3c#.cpiint2f6)**:** Apple launches Search Ads… (by [Maximilian](https://medium.com/u/d6241b879daa?source=post_page-----a16cf91d4ac6----------------------)) 7. [**_November 2016_**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-7-november-2016-a16cf91d4ac6#.u1zfsdkpq)_: Google Play adds conversion rate benchmarks…_ 8. [**December 2016**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-8-december-2016-91bd70d4f696#.p62w40giu): Priori Data launches Keyword Tool … 9. [**January 2017**](https://medium.com/app-store-optimization-monthly/aso-monthly-9-january-2017-56a5f7e197ac#.ldwo829rl): In-App ratings in iOS 10.3 and more 10. [**February 2017**](https://medium.com/p/a6b695b8e374/edit)**: **Play Store starts using retention for keyword rankings