App Store SEO
what did the 2012 “Chomp” update change
by AppCodes
October 10th 2016
still valid for
iOS10

A brief history of App Store Search
2008 - original search
2009 - 100-character space for keywords
2012 - “Chomp update”
2013 - occasional small algorithm changes, and Apple
seems to shuffle apps around in the store from time to
time - but the basic rules introduced by the Chomp
update remain the same
2016 - conversion matters? in 2016 the app positions
seem to change more often than before. Our bet is that
conversion matters - if your app is irrelevant to the
search results, it will drop in position

App description still
doesn’t matter

Apple handles plural
forms much better now.
If you want to position for “Donuts”, and you’re missing
just one letter - use just “donut”. The result will be very
close

App keywords now matter almost as
much as the app name.
The bonus for the exact name match is much
lower now than before the update
(in the past, if user searched for “Zombo Game”,
the app titled “Zombo Game” would always show up
on top.This no longer holds)

In-app purchase names don’t help much
with positioning now.
This wiped out a plenty of spam apps. Yay!
But also wiped out some legitimate apps :(

The search on the device no longer
accounts for category name
e.g. search for “motivapps productivity” shows our
apps in iTunes, but not on the device.
in AppCodes.com we show device results
so either check your position on device, or using us :)
“motivapps
productivity”
iTunes iPhone

If your app is free, the word “free” is
added implicitly to your keyword list
that means - no need to add those words to your
keyword list

You get no bonus from using whole
phrases in your keyword list.
instead of “love letter,letter writer”
use “love,letter,writer”
in the keyword list

in other words...

The search is still quite dumb
No “smart description understanding”
good description with
keywords inside
empty description +
2 days of waiting

The search is still quite dumb
Only a very basic spelling correction

Although...
Plural forms are handled far better now than
before
“love letters” “loves letters”
almost the same
results

Although...
Sales are not the only factor
Top 1000 apps (marked red) appear all
over the chart in the results

although…
Sales are not the only factor
Flashlight.*
246k total dls in U.S.
Top 461 overall in U.S.
Updated Mar 22, 2012
Flashlight *
1,6M total dls in U.S.
Top 248 overall in U.S.
Updated Jun 12, 2012
Why the hell is Flashlight.* higher than Flashlight *?

oh, and by the way

Oh, and by the way
We *love* that Apple has gotten rid of in-app
purchase spammers.
before after

Oh, and by the way
And the new search results seem much more
relevant. Good job, Apple!
before after

All in all
make sure that your title & keywords are
fine and see which ones work best.
iterate, iterate, iterate
the research prepared by AppCodes.com
The Swiss Army Knife for App Store Optimization
click to visit