Is Apple Fiddling with the iPhone and iPad App Search Algorithms

What does it take to cause a seismic shift to the iOS App Store? We have no official word, but the folks at MOBILEDEVHQ think so, reporting earlier this week that they were seeing substantial amounts of change across search rankings.

In a blog post, the company reported the findings and that developers are likely to see their keyword search rankings shift. The changes were discovered using the company’s “Sonar” product, which monitors the search algorithms for iTunes and Google Play and picks up on large, systemic change. With it the company noticed a large spike in what is otherwise a relatively calm amount of fluctuation.

In the roughly 30,000 keyword sample taken daily, the company reported the average ranking change for iPhone was a “huge 41.5 positions - that’s eight times the change we typically see. 40% of all apps that ranked for those keywords changed at least 20 ranking positions. Normally, only 3% of apps see that type of change per day. For iPad, that number was less pronounced at an average ranking change of 20.8 positions, though still a healthy four times the usual amount of movement.”

To confirm the findings the company checked search rankings on iPhone 4, 4S, 5, and 5S, as well as on iPad. All rankings were the same and reflected the same amount of change as detected.

The blog post also reports, “We then looked at “head” keywords, which typically don’t see a large amount of change due to very popular apps typically “owning” certain ranking positions on a stable basis. Specifically, we checked the rankings for “banking,” “music,” and “home” for iPhone, and “travel” for iPad. There’s been significant ranking change even here.”

While not definitive, the company is continuing to monitor the rankings and plans on making further reports. To see the complete findings, click on the link below.