Apple Adjusts App Store Algorithm After Realizing Many Apple Apps Dominate Search Results

[H3LL5P4WN]

I don't see a problem here. Using Apple's apps is central to the experience.

This isn't the wild west of el Goog's malware store, I mean the Play Store, where no one adheres to design or functionality guidelines.
[doublepost=1568036654][/doublepost]

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

That sounds you hear is the countdown on the number of days Apple will be allowed by regulators to require that its App Store be the only official way to load apps onto Apple devices.

Yeah no.

 

[ScooterComputer]

This has been going on for years. FaceTime used to routinely be in the Top 10, even long after it became a macOS bundled app. That somehow the Apple Exec team was heretofore "unaware" of this algo's rogueness is unfathomable. So, yeah, they made a mistake… and then lied about it for a REALLY LONG TIME. They could not have been that otherwise aloof.

 

[JosephAW]

Here all this time I thought top hits were paid for position.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

I'm sorry, but are Macrumors front page readers dumb, or having a hard time to read properly?
[doublepost=1568037412][/doublepost]

This has been going on for years. FaceTime used to routinely be in the Top 10, even long after it became a macOS bundled app. That somehow the Apple Exec team was heretofore "unaware" of this algo's rogueness is unfathomable. So, yeah, they made a mistake… and then lied about it for a REALLY LONG TIME. They could not have been that otherwise aloof.

FaceTime was on the App Store long before it came with MacOS? That's the first time I hear that.

 

[BootsWalking]

Apple seems to have adopted Facebook's strategy of asking for forgiveness instead of permission, aka doing the right thing the first time around.

 

[RevTEG]

Wait! Apple would prefer people use their apps? Wow! Who would have thought that the company that built the device would like to advertise their own apps?! I don’t see how this is any different than any other company advertising their own products.

 

[Expos of 1969]

More comedy gold...

"We make mistakes all the time," Mr. Cue said.

"We're happy to admit when we do," Mr. Schiller said.


Forget spending billions on the shows currently being made for Apple TV, give these guys a show. Very inexpensive to make, could be a basement set like "Wayne's World" on Saturday Night Live years ago.
[doublepost=1568038616][/doublepost]

But Apple said they weren’t promoting their own apps.

and we all believe everything Apple says....get a grip....

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Apple seems to have adopted Facebook's strategy of asking for forgiveness instead of permission, aka doing the right thing the first time around.

Yes, because searching for "music" shows "Apple MUSIC" and "maps" shows "Apple MAPS" first. Who would have thought?!

 

[gavroche]

Apple seems to have adopted Facebook's strategy of asking for forgiveness instead of permission, aka doing the right thing the first time around.

I’m kinda shocked that anyone would be surprised that a company promoted its own products. Is this really news to anyone? Or surprising?
What a world this is becoming. First world problems becoming so overly dramatic.

 

[realtuner]

OMG! 735 out of 60000! the horror

Or in other words, 735 out of 735 they have apps in.

That's not how statistics works. If 1 in a million people have a rare disease you can't claim 100% because "1 out of 1 of people with that disease...have that disease".


Here's my post from the previous thread using some popular searches.

-------
I tried a few others:

“spreadsheet” brings up Google Sheets, Excel, iSpreadsheet, Calculator Spreadsheet and finally Numbers.

“word processing” brings up Word then Pages.

“presentation” brings up Google Slides, PowerPoint and then Keynote.

“video editing” put iMovie in around 10th spot.

“video editor” iMovie wasn’t even in the first 20 (I stopped scrolling).
-------

I thought Apple was always at the top? If there was something done intentionally it should apply to ALL Apple Apps, not just certain ones.

 

[Rogifan]

The next shoe to drop will be all the scammy apps on the App Store and Apple not doing enough to stop it. Here’s just few examples.

https://appsexposed.home.blog/
https://twitter.com/rjonesy/status/1149341755822809094?s=20

Apple has no incentive to do anything about it because they’re getting a 30% cut from all these subscriptions/IAPs.

 

[Khedron]

Personally I didn't see anything wrong with Apple promoting it's own apps. Apple's apps are free, exclude ads and in-app purchases.

On the other hand Apple has an incentive to promote paid apps. Maintain a healthy market place. Provide choice to users.

Apple's apps include "advertisements"/"in-app purchases" for their subscription services like iCloud and Apple Music

 

[Cosmosent]

At Tim Cook's weekly Monday Exec Team Meeting:

Cook: Are we still dominating App Store search ?

Schiller: Yes Tim, & we are continuing to Cook the Algorithm in our favor.

Cook: Good, have we gotten caught yet ?

Schiller: Nope, NOT really !

Cook: Good, keep up the good work !

-----

1.) Anybody who thinks the Apple of today is ANY different than Google OR Facebook hasn't been paying attention to what's been going on the past few years !

2.) It's just a matter of time before App Devs will be able to offer their iOS Apps OUTSIDE iOS App Store.

Here, there will be NO search & there will be NO browsing ... just a mechanism to download & install a "notarized" iOS app via a link on an App Dev's website.

 

[smileman]

Apple isn’t worried about a fine anyway.

An antitrust fine doesn't look good for Apple's brand image, but agreed, a financial settlement is not a concern.

What Apple is *deeply* concerned about (and why they changed their search algorithm) is the threat of losing their App Store distribution channel monopoly.

Apple probably knows it's just a matter of time before regulators force Apple to allow apps onto Apple devices from non-App Store distribution channels, but I imagine they'll try to push out this day.

Ending the App Store's distribution monopoly would be healthy not just from a competition perspective, but also from a privacy perspective. Right now cyber criminals, regulators, etc. can target two companies - Apple and Google - to gain access to a list of nearly everyone who has ever downloaded a particular mobile app. See for example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...-10000-users-of-a-gun-scope-app/#2438dbca6135

I'm a big Apple fan and feel they have done a ton for innovation, privacy, security, etc. However, like a few other tech companies they have become too big and powerful. App Store search bias is just the latest example of how they are leveraging their market power and position to damage competition and innovation.

 

[Baymowe335]

An antitrust fine doesn't look good for Apple's brand image, but agreed, a financial settlement is not a concern.

What Apple is *deeply* concerned about (and why they changed their search algorithm) is the threat of losing their App Store distribution channel monopoly.

Apple probably knows it's just a matter of time before regulators force Apple to allow apps onto Apple devices from non-App Store distribution channels, but I imagine they'll try to push out this day.

Ending the App Store's distribution monopoly would be healthy not just from a competition perspective, but also from a privacy perspective. Right now cyber criminals, regulators, etc. can target two companies - Apple and Google - to gain access to a list of nearly everyone who has ever downloaded a particular mobile app. See for example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...-10000-users-of-a-gun-scope-app/#2438dbca6135

I'm a big Apple fan and feel they have done a ton for innovation, privacy, security, etc. However, like a few other tech companies they have become too big and powerful. App Store search bias is just the latest example of how they are leveraging their market power and position to damage competition and innovation.

I don't think their App Store meets the definition of a monopoly. It's not more of a monopoly than Disney. Vertical integration is not illegal and all companies *try* to do it, with varying levels of success.

Quite simply, you don't have to buy an iPhone or use its services.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Stupid. It's your phone, your App Store.. you should put your own stuff at the top of searches.

 

[Dave-Z]

Apple obviously thinks their customers are idiots.

Their customers pay 2x over equivalent non-Apple hardware, so probably.. Yeah.

 

[Lalatoon]

Apple is just following Google - curating search result.

 

[BootsWalking]

I’m kinda shocked that anyone would be surprised that a company promoted its own products. Is this really news to anyone? Or surprising?
What a world this is becoming. First world problems becoming so overly dramatic.

Except it's illegal, which will soon be demonstrated to Apple by the US Government.

 

[Dave-Z]

Personally, my opinion till this point has always been that people searching the App Store would tend to download first-party apps. If I bought an iPhone and needed to do quick edits to a spreadsheet, I'd probably be inclined to select Apple's product over another just because I assume it will work better. More people downloading = higher rankings. (Now apparently this is not the case, which is unfortunate.)

 

[tennisproha]

I didn’t have a problem with this. Those are all good, reliable Apple apps. The problem is the mega-corporation developers hogging the algorithm, not Apple apps.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Stupid. It's your phone, your App Store.. you should put your own stuff at the top of searches.

Not quite. It is not "your (Apple's) phone", the phone is owned by the person who bought it. Whether you agree or not, Apple has a legal obligation to adhere to laws in all countries. What may be permissible in Ohio may not cut the mustard in more global or sophisticated markets.

 

[simonmet]

There are far bigger problems in my view. Like the fact apps that significantly degrade over time manage to keep high ratings from old versions that are no longer relevant. I’ve no doubt developers abuse this.

Mostly I want to filter out EVERY single app that uses consumable IAPs, because they are trash. But Apple won’t do it because they love the profit these insidious apps generate from their gambling-like mechanics, in-game currencies and loot boxes. Apple can’t claim any moral high ground when they promote these “games” so heavily, at the expense of others that are far more deserving of attention. They created that IAP type knowing fully the type of apps it would promote and the harm and expense for some customers.

Until I can filter out apps that use consumable IAPs I simply won’t bother to search or browse the App Store; it’s a waste of time. I know I buy fewer as a result.

 

[XXPP]

But I really want Apple apps high in search. Most secure and high quality.

 

[WaterOz]

There's nowhere that I'm reading in the article that even begins to suggest Apple was intentionally making their apps go higher. The fix here was to keep their apps from being in the top intentionally. The app store rankings work like any other search engine - the apps that get the most clicks when people search words, float to the top and the algorithm say they are most popular. Of course Apple Apps would be the ones that would float to the top - the average user is likely going to go for the apple branded apps first anyway. What they are doing now is forcing their own apps to have a handicap so that even if they are the most clicked ones, other apps can outdo them and apple doesn't completely dominate the search results.

At least, that's what I get from the article. I'm not sure where the concept that they are now admitting to guilt and that they were intentionally forcing them on top comes from that its being spoken by many here in the comments.