Apple Shifts to Editorially Curated Lists on App Store

[MacRumors]

Apple has quietly changed the way it promotes new and popular apps on the App Store, shifting from algorithmically generated lists to editorially curated content last month. TechCrunch reports that the "Games" section, for example, no longer has "New," "What's Hot," or "All iPhone (Free & Paid)" categories, which have been replaced with editor curated lists such as "Best New Games" and "More Games You Might Like," the latter based on a customer's purchase history.

"What's also notable about the changes is that this represents the first time the Games' subcategory pages (e.g., Action, Adventure, Racing, Trivia, etc.) have included editorially created lists," reports TechCrunch. "These pages now have their own banner art at the top as well in order to better highlight the best new games within those sections. Within each subcategory page, consumers can browse editorial collections including 'Best New Games,' 'All-Time Greats,' 'Free,' and 'Pay Once & Play.'"

The move towards editorial curation was expected given the multiple job listings that Apple has posted for App Store and iTunes editors in recent months, including one specifically for the games section.

"This position is responsible for the discovery, selection, and promotion of games on the Apple App Stores. Working under the direction of the Editorial Manager for Games, they are tasked with ensuring all games selected for promotion are played and scrutinized to the highest level of standards," the job description for an "Editor, Games, App Store" position posted in late April reads.

The report claims that some app developers have seen between 30% to 90% fewer organic app downloads since the changes were made, although the move away from automatically generated app lists is not expected to negatively impact most developers. In fact, editorial curation should help developers with truly useful apps gain some well-deserved exposure on the App Store, rather than clone or rip-off apps that sometimes slipped through Apple's old automated process.

Following the surging popularity and subsequent removal of Flappy Bird from the App Store a few years ago, for example, a number of developers were quick to release copycat versions of the app with similar app icons, titles, graphics and gameplay. At any given time, at least a few of those apps were often undeservingly featured under the algorithmically generated lists on the App Store such as "New" or "What's Hot" based on total downloads and other factors.

There are over 1,400,000 apps available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod.

Article Link: Apple Shifts to Editorially Curated Lists on App Store

 

[farewelwilliams]

now i just gotta find these guys to pay them off to promote my app

 

[uid15]

SUPERB idea

No more fart button apps.

 

[k1121j]

i hope the lists aren't as stale as they are currently i get sick of seeing the same apps in every list all the time

 

[captain cadet]

So now it be all the big companies (facebook, Google, EA) get the spotlight - not just indie apps :/
This could be turn into paid promotion soon...

 

[2457282]

i hope the lists aren't as stale as they are currently i get sick of seeing the same apps in every list all the time

Totally Agree!! I hope this leads to better App discovery. Until now, it really has been difficult to find new and interesting apps to try out.

 

[jef82]

Nice evolution with the quality as winner.

 

[LordQ]

So now it be all the big companies (facebook, Google, EA) get the spotlight - not just indie apps :/
This could be turn into paid promotion soon...

Yeah, and may make independent or smaller developers harder to find or promote their apps...

 

[AngerDanger]

So now it be all the big companies (facebook, Google, EA) get the spotlight - not just indie apps :/
This could be turn into paid promotion soon...

I would've thought that algorithmically generated lists would overlook unpopular, quality apps, and the editorially curated lists would increase the chance of some random quality app being found and placed in the spotlight.

 

[mdelvecchio]

MR: was the Flappy Birds thing really a few years ago? I thought it was last year?

 

[JetTester]

I'll be happy when they give me some control over what apps are shown. For example, I'd love to be able to check a selection that says "Don't show any games". That seems to be 90% of the available apps, and 0.1% of what I'm looking for.

 

[name99]

Everything old is new again...

How long till we hear allegations of payola in the promotion of apps? (I'm guessing accepting payola will never be official Apple policy [that's reserved for the "strategic" promotion of apps from the companies that Apple wants something from], but I could imagine a little industry starting of "consultants" who happen to know which Apple curators will move an app onto the list for a gift of $500...)

[Let me be clear. I'm not blaming/accusing Apple here, and I don't have a better suggestion. This is a statement about how humans are infinitely corruptible, and there's always a business that grows up to exploit that; it's not a comment about Apple.
I think the main thing Apple needs to do is ensure right away that this isn't possible, perhaps through randomly assigning possible apps to reviewers/curators, so that there is no one "the driving games" guy that everyone knows is the guy to bribe if you want your hame on the list. If there are ten such guys, each getting a random collection of apps and with no ability to choose from outside that random collection, it's rather more difficult to arrange bribes for a particular apps. (Of course then you just start arranging the bribes by conglomerate... "$500 for each item on this list of twenty that you promote"?) Like I said, hard problem.
]

 

[bpeeps]

So now it be all the big companies (facebook, Google, EA) get the spotlight - not just indie apps :/
This could be turn into paid promotion soon...

There's no reason to continuously spotlight Facebook, Google, Snapchat, whatever. These apps are always at the forefront of the top charts list.

 

[Paddle1]

MR: was the Flappy Birds thing really a few years ago? I thought it was last year?

It was last year.

 

[Daalseth]

"More Games You Might Like," the latter based on a customer's purchase history.

That could be very useful.

Interesting new look to the site.

 

[Mycoolroy]

I like their "get things done" and "Zombie games" Type banners on the app store, more of that is good.

 

[Manderby]

No more staff picks? No more Essentials? Good, because those frequently had less than 2 stars and were not updated for years. What a joke.

I just saw that in the Mac App store under "Editors Choice", there is indeed a section "new choices" and "old choices". The old choices often times having really bad reviews.

I like where this is going.

Let's see how this changes my sales.

 

[KALLT]

I have been very satisfied with the featured page of the App Store lately. Lots of fantastic apps that are hardly reflected in the top lists. For me this really distinguishes the app experience from Android and Windows Phone. I check in multiple times a week, even if I don’t immediately buy much (although I do try a lot).

A shame that the Mac App Store is still such a pain and I do miss so many apps due to Apple’s strict policies.

 

[dav1dd]

This has potential. With all those games, I find it difficult to nail something worth playing. Monument Valley was an exception as it was heavily promoted.

 

[TouchMint.com]

This is bad news for anyone who is not a big name company pretty much. In the long run this might spell the end of spamming and cloning of apps but I think its a little late for that since there are already 1.5mil apps.

get ready for less innovation on the app store and more manufactured crap brought to you by king and zynga.

 

[Tech198]

So the App Store's trying to get smarter ?

I wouldn't mind "Top Games", but "Games you might like" ?

Sounds kinda like a recommendation engine is in use, and as we all know by watching Netflix, is not always 100% accurate either.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I just wish they could clean up the App Store and stop developers listing their apps in categories they don't belong.

E.g. *none* of these apps on the front page of this category should be in this category:

Those are *not* adventure games.

 

[Glassed Silver]

I'll be happy when they give me some control over what apps are shown. For example, I'd love to be able to check a selection that says "Don't show any games". That seems to be 90% of the available apps, and 0.1% of what I'm looking for.

This.

games - for me - belong mostly on other devices.
Yes I have plenty on iOS, but most of them only because you lose the game save the minute you uninstall the app. (genius move, Apple!)

Also, add a filter for IAP-infected apps.
I like to see the sensible apps first and if needed then loosen up on filters.

Glassed Silver:ios

 

[captain cadet]

I would've thought that algorithmically generated lists would overlook unpopular, quality apps, and the editorially curated lists would increase the chance of some random quality app being found and placed in the spotlight.

True thinking about it but the only thing worries me is that it could become a "Pay me to be here" sort of things...