Google Play ranking

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Just launched my app on Google Play a couple days ago. When I search for my app, “Music History Flashcards”, I see that it’s ranked about 130th. Almost none of the apps ahead of it have anything to do with either history or music. This is in contrast to the App store, where the same search brings up just my app and my app alone.

I asked Google about this and they told me the ranking has to do with ratings as well as keyword matching, and i have no ratings yet, hence the dismal positioning.

So, someone who knows about and goes deliberately looking for my app probably won’t find it. They’ll look at the first screen, won’t see it, assume it’s gone or they did something wrong, and leave. Someone else who doesn’t know about my app but wants a music history resource won’t find it either. So both Google and I lose sales. 

If I search for the app and surround the search string with quotes, then I see my app. This is what happens by default on the app store, without having to include quotes.

#2

This is the business - You have gone the paid route - thus free apps by their nature will get more downloads - and thus more chances of potential ratings etc… — end result will push you down.

This is something you have to consider in your marketing plan.

Me i would consider going for a branding “name” strategy - perhaps “Muso Histo” - those that know can search and likely get a more precise hit - and then do your best to add music history and flash crds in your description field as many times as you can BUT as naturally as you can.

Muso Histo = 10 characters so you could add more - “- music history……”

T.

#3

From your experience, how long did it take for you to be able to find your app via name on the play store?

It’s been 2 days since our release and it still won’t come up for me when searching for “Puzzle Jumper”, I have to use the package name of “com.gremlin interactive.puzzlejumper” to find it.

Sorry to hijack your thread,

#4

@Grem

Unsure if your Q was for me or OP, and am hesitant to give advice to someone more experienced than I within the app bus ( i would think you are by far a better coder than I , but i have studied marketing )

We as indies are the little fish in the big game, and there are a lot of us - so there are a lot of little fish and it becomes difficult to spot that one individual fish - unless it does something to stand out.

For your game you have included “puzzle” and “jumper” - puzzle gets all of those hollywood photo star “unofficial apps” and jumper gets all those jetpack whatever jumper clones.

I see if you 

search “puzzle jumper” only two hits and you’re first - but i’m no expert but the number of people who would put the " in front and back" are not the majority - do you do that? I don’t!

Thus my recommendation of a unique name (if made-up all the better - as more unique) and then IMHO it turns into a situation in that you still are selling your app but you are doing it by really selling your “unique” Keyword search term.

It’s a long shot but as the OP and yourself have found out - a generic name which describes what it is results in you getting lost amongst all the fish that are swimming ahead of you ( older apps which by essence of having had more time on the store, and being free - have got those downloads and other stuff which will rank them higher than you for the single word terms - puzzle, jumper, music,history, FLASHCARDS - ( theres thousands))

So trying the longshot combined with using the title you first though of as keywords seems to me to be the best way to go.

T

#5

Thanks for the reply! I tried putting quotes front and back and it did come up as the first result… weird. But it does not show up at all (even if you search through every result for just the name without quotes). I find that really odd, it’s like it’s not even there.

I wonder what the options are to make the game visible in search results… if you can’t even find it by name, then there are bad times ahead :slight_smile: lol

#6

A view from the trenches…

Honestly, Google Play search is crap with a capital F. I’m biased against I suppose because they banned my account.

Still, I have a very good performing quiz on iOS called “X Quiz”. When I searched for X Quiz on Google Play (before the ban), all I got was all the top performing quizzes (brand this and logo that and football the other). This went on for nearly a month before they yanked my account.

The only way I could get “X Quiz” to come up was to literally include the quotes. No such BS on Amazon or iTunes. Type X Quiz without the quotes and it’s there in the results near the top.

Oh well… at least Google let me keep my AdMob account. Nice of them…

MAS1

#7

It is a bit weird. I did a search as well here for Puzzle Jumper and I got 250 results. Yours was not among them unless I searched for the app with quotes. Maybe there’s a limit to the number of apps returned. If there are too many results it just gives you the top n results?  

250 is very close to a well-known limit :slight_smile:

#8

I don’t even see an advanced search feature on google play, so you can’t for example narrow a search to within a specific category. I suppose all searches are ‘title keyword’, then result based on … what? Number of downloads or ratings or perhaps both?  Does anyone know if the app descriptions are used in the search? 

There should be a way for developers to assign controlled subject terms to their apps, just like in a library catalog. 

#9

I have been on to google about this, as my app is not found when searching. Below i have quoted googles exact reply to me, unfortunately it’s bad news for us indies.

The last paragraph is the most disheartening.

Our goal with search is not to provide exact title matches (which in most cases would yield hundreds of irrelevant results) but rather to provide apps that are related to the search terms and are more likely to be what the user is looking for. As you can see in the search results for Puzzle Jumper, the apps that are returned are almost entirely puzzle apps. Returning puzzle apps for a search that contains puzzle makes simple sense. Unfortunately, this simply makes it more difficult for new apps using common terms such as these to show up in search results.

In these cases, we strongly recommend directing potential users to your app using a direct link until you gain enough installs and ratings to be ranked above 250 in search results for your app’s title. You can use this URL to always point users directly to your app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gremlininteractive.puzzlejumper.

Please understand, while we do our best to make search as accurate as possible, we can’t return every app every time. Because of this, Google Play search should not be considered a marketing tool. You are responsible for marketing your app.

#10

Good to know…

#11

It confirms some assumptions of how the search was working - and while no assumptions can be 100% gives more info to work with.

The “more likely” bit i would associate with download numbers - the logic that because lots of other people chose this, it includes part of the search term ( or all), thus  there is a higher than normal chance this may satisfy the searchers request - so we will show it, and because it is the most downloaded we’ll show it first - so that the (and this is the bit we’ll all hate) user doesn’t have to scroll anymore!

(IMHO)

More proof to go with the unique product name- give the people you know the unique name - they download it - then if the word of mouth kicks in they can use this unique name to give to people to make it easier to find.

Then in your description have something like this

“XYZ… is a puzzle jumper type game …… puzzle….jump the jumper……etc….”

to pick up the non specific (don’t know your game) but avid scrollers.

case in point 

2048 - when it first came out it would have been unique - but now!!

The interesting thing is that Wiki attributes the game to one guy but his app is not the 1st but 9th (obviously still seen) but number 1-8 all have icons that could be mistaken for the original (either similar icon - or icon looks like gameplay).

This is the business - not saying i like it but it’s reality! So even the unique name can turn into something similar to your puzzle jumper situation.

The thing to remember is that the 2048 clones (most of them) would only appear after the original 2048 “paved” the way i.e. became popular. Therefore as a developer you have got to have your ducks in a row (how are you going to get paid) right from day one - because the reality is that if you get a original hit - your’ve got 1 week maybe 2 before  others jump on your bandwagon (be they cloners or templaters).

T.

#12

Apple provides exact title matches. Does that " yield hundreds of irrelevant results" ?

A quick check suggests that Blackberry and Microsoft also seem to also provide exact title matches, even for apps with the most generic titles. 

Is Google on its own here? 

#13

Yeah, i don’t reqlly understand how showing the exact title match first, then using that algorithm (they mentioned in my quote) would produce “irrelevant results”.

Like if you were to search for “cut the rope”, odds are you want to find that exact game, not a bunch of games relating to that search term.

I can’t see them changing this unless there were a huge online petition or something. This basically makes google play the hardest store to get your app visible in

Oh well :frowning:

#14

Thought I would chime in on this one :slight_smile:

Some things to understand about Google Play.

While it is true that your app is published and available within 1-3 hours in reality (in my experience) it takes between 1-2 weeks for it to start moving and searchable (unless for some reason it is popular right out the gate). There are some exceptions to this rule (a) is it free, paid etc. ( B) is it getting a fair amount of downloads, and © do you have a lot of inbound links pointed to your app on Google Play (Websites, Reviews, Is it popular in other stores etc.).

Over the past year (year and a half) Google Play has become a free-for-all ecosystem and has been flooded with so many games (40% of them being fake) that it is becoming harder and harder to navigate.

Keep in mind is that the Play Store Search also works like Google Search first and foremost based on relevance so a search on Google Play for one of my new puzzle games The Billy Blob Saga you will find me at number 27 HOWEVER if search for “The Billy Blob Saga” with quotes it will show up number one. The reason for this is the games that show before me are either advertising (install exchange) or in some cases have very spammmmmy descriptions which will mess with Googles indexing until such time they are pulled by the automated engine at which time they simply change the product id and re-upload it and start the process all over again.

The same is true for your game, if you are asking people to download it just by putting in the name have them put quotes around your name like “Music History Flashcards” and it will be the only result they see until such time your app becomes more relevant to the Google Skynet System.

I posted on the pitfalls of each store a few weeks ago on my linked in and you can read it here if you like https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140711160710-146086161-google-play-amazon-app-store-microsoft-store-and-itunes?trk=prof-post

Anymore, I only use Google Play for testing features, fine tuning and fixing bugs before pushing to other stores like Apple.

If I were wanting to make my games anything more than a hobby or my own personal amusement, I wouldn’t even bother with Google I would be exclusive to Apple until such time Google was able to sober up their Skynet system because at the moment it is to drunk with power.

Just my two cents.

Also: I would play with your price range, 99 cents will show up in more “related/similar” results than $6.43 will and I think you will find you will get more downloads at 99 cents than you ever will at the current price. 

You can get away with a price like that on Apple but unless you are offering something they can’t live without Google users will not pay that much for a app/game.

#15

I had a similar experience with my new game “Bakery Batch”, launched about a month ago.  Searching for Bakery Batch without quotes and it came up # 200 something in the results.  Using the quotes did make it #1, but who uses quotes in their search?  

But after a few days it started climbing the ranks slowly on its own, so perhaps you only just need to wait.  But I suspect more importantly you need people to download your app!  Because I wanted some actual user data and no one was finding my app I ended up making a cheap ad campaign via Admob.  I spent a little over $100 over about 7 days to get about 600 installs.  Now my app is #1 in search for Bakery Batch without quotes.  Perhaps advertising with admob (owned by Google) is the key :wink:

I also got a couple friends to leave some positive reviews so that could have been a factor, too.   Other than that I didn’t change anything in the app description text, or do any other ASO.  I do link to to the app from a blog and website and I know Google’s search engine takes things like that into account so perhaps that also helps.  

#16

Some more info. I suggested that google change their system to return the app that matched the title first, then whatever algorithm they use after that… this response was rather shocking in my opinion, and ridiculous. In their eyes, apps with low install counts are “poor quality apps”.

Quite absurd, and frankly insulting, to all of us indies who do not have tens of thousands of dollars laying around to splash on our app, just to get it “listed” (not featured, listed ) on their store. Right…

Googles response:

Thanks for your reply and your clarification. Just to be clear, if we did as you suggested, perhaps there would be 5 - 20 apps returned first, but the quality of at least some of those apps are likely to be very poor (low installs, bad/no ratings, etc.). This would result in a very bad user experience. It doesn’t make sense to highlight apps just because the title matches. There’s far more to an app than just its title, which is why we have our advanced search algorithms.

We certainly want users to find you and your app on Google Play, which is why we provide direct linking options as outlined here: http://developer.android.com/distribute/tools/promote/linking.html.

As noted previously, because your app has so few installs and ratings, it’s not considered a quality app. Users are not looking for low quality apps, which is why you’re not at the top of search results. As you market your app it will grow and will provide better signals for our algorithms, which will in turn improve its rank in search results. This is the same experience for all apps and all developers. Remember, you are responsible for marketing your app.

#17

That is some BS right there…

The real sad part about this is that his logic is seriously flawed and the apps that show up are not “quality” apps they are apps that have been manipulated to add installs and rankings. 

This is pretty much why I am not a big fan of Google right now.

#18

“It doesn’t make sense to highlight apps just because the title matches”

 

WTF???"

 

This is what I suggested to them:

 

"Just wondering why you don’t return exact title matches along with your more general results. Every other app store search seems to, not to mention every library catalogue! "

 

and here’s their reply.

 

 

"Thanks for your reply. I apologize but I can’t provide any specifics into how our search algorithms work. I understand that it can be frustrating when you can’t find your app by searching for its exact name, and I understand that using quotations seems awkward.

That being said, we place a high value on developer feedback. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to submit Developer Console Feedback by clicking the question mark button in the top-right corner of the console, and then clicking “Send feedback”. This feedback is reviewed by our product team as we work to make a better Google Play Developer experience.

#19

Yeah, it’s ridiculous.

From my correspondence with them, it seems like they place developer feedback in extremely low regard, contrary to what they said in your message. Unless of course you are a company raking in millions of dollars a year, in that case I am sure they would bend their system to work in your advantage.

*sigh*

Us indies who made the app stores what they are today, are now being shoved out of them. Yet again we seem to have no place to be noticed anymore and no place to have a shot at becoming big.

#20

This is the business - You have gone the paid route - thus free apps by their nature will get more downloads - and thus more chances of potential ratings etc… — end result will push you down.

This is something you have to consider in your marketing plan.

Me i would consider going for a branding “name” strategy - perhaps “Muso Histo” - those that know can search and likely get a more precise hit - and then do your best to add music history and flash crds in your description field as many times as you can BUT as naturally as you can.

Muso Histo = 10 characters so you could add more - “- music history……”

T.