[ad_1]
That Apple has used its App Store to offer a competitive advantage is nothing new. TechCrunch and others have been reporting on this problem for years, when and what times when Apple's thing to display its apps in the No. 1 position on the Top Charts, for example, or when it stole some of the App Store's best ideas for its own , banned apps that competed with iOS features. Now, in the wake of antitrust investigations in the U.S. and abroad, Apple has revised the App Store's algorithm for its own applications.
The change in the New York Times on Monday, which featured an analysis of app rankings.
It even found that some searches for various terms would display as many as 14 Apple-owned apps before showing any results from rivals. App search ad, the report noted.
That's a bad look for Apple, which has been trying to distance itself and its App Store from any anti-competitive charges.
In May, for example, Apple launched a new App Store website designed to demonstrate how it benefits from competition from third-party apps. The site has been built for the Apple app, there are competitors available throughout the App Store.
But availability in the store and discoverability by consumers are two different things.
Apple admitted to the NYT for Apple's own apps, even when the Apple apps were less popular at times. The company explained the algorithm was not manipulated to do so. For the most part, Apple says it's more popular because it's more popular and because it's more popular. The company said that it's a feature of the app's algorithm, which Apple's own apps better rankings than expected.
Above: via the NYT, the average number of Apple apps that returned to the top of the search results by month
Apple says it's the way it's going to work. According to the NYT, both Apple VP Philip Schiller, who oversees the App Store, and SVP Eddy Cue, who oversees many of Apple's apps, confirmed that these changes have not fully fixed the problem.
The issue, as Apple explains it, is that its own apps are so popular that it was to tweak its algorithm to pretend they are not. Whether or not this is true, it is not allowed to check, however, as Apple does not allow any visibility to metrics like searches, downloads or active users.
Maybe it's time for Apple's apps to exit the App Store?
The report, along with the presumption of the algorithm's changes, begs the question to be sure of Apple's apps should show up in the App Store's charts and search results at all, and if so, how.
To be fair, this is a question that's not limited to Apple. Google today is facing the same problem. Recently, the CEO of a popular software program, Basecamp, called Google's paid search ads to "shakedown," arguing that the only way in its history. Meanwhile, his competitors can do so – even using his name.
The same holds true for the App Store, but on a smaller scale than the entirety of the web. That also makes Apple's problem easier to solve.
For example, Apple could simply choose to offer a dedicated section for its own software downloads, and leave the App Store as home for third-party software alone.
This sort of change could not be avoided. Apple's anti-competitive behavior in the search results and chart rankings. Apple might balk with this solution, saying that users should have an easy way to locate and download its own apps, and the App Store is the place to do that. But the actual marketplace The App Store app – which today includes a variety of app-related content, including app reviews, interviews with developers, app tips and a subscription gaming service, Apple Arcade – could still be used to showcase Apple-produced software.
It could only be so outside the actual marketplace.
Here's how this could work. If users wanted to re-install an Apple app they did not know how to do it. Pointers to this page could be in the App Store app itself in the iOS Settings.
An ideal spot for this section of the App Store.
With a redesign, Apple could offer a search engine that could only check a box of apps that would only come from Apple. This would be intentional behavior on the consumer's part. That is, they are directly seeking an Apple software download – as opposed to the current situation where a user searches for "Music" and sees Apple 's own music app appear above all the rivals like Spotify and Pandora.
Alternately, Apple could just list its own apps on this page.
And these are just a few variations on a single idea. There are plenty of other ways the App Store could be made to be less anti-competitive, too.
As another example, Apple could also include the "You Might Like Like" section in its own apps "App Store listings, as it does for all third-party apps.
Above: Apple Music's App Store Listing
This section direct users to other apps that match the same search query right within the app's detail page. Apple's own apps, however, only include a "More by Apple" section. That means keeping the search and consuming interest for itself.
Above: Spotify's App Store Listing
They were truly in search of Apple's software – even if they rank higher – in order to give more attention to apps.
But ultimately, how will Apple behave with its eyes App Store may be left to the regulators to decide, given Apple's failure to bake this issue of anti-competitive thinking on its App Store design.
[ad_2]
Source link