App Store Search Results Changing Due to Chomp Acquisition Already?

Back in February, Apple acquired application discovery platform Chomp for a reported $50 million dollars. Chomp’s specialty was in app discovery and now it is being reported by TechCrunch their algorithms have started to make their way into the App Store, based on the feedback from certain developers seeing a spike in downloads for certain search terms:

Basically, it looks like App Store search is now weighting app names and keywords less heavily in its search results. Previously, if you were searching for something like “san francisco parking”, apps whose names included those search terms would rank more highly. Or if you searched for something like “traffic”, you’d get a bunch of games with names like Traffic Rush. Now, you’re more likely to see apps that aren’t just a simple keyword match. In traffic, for example, you see more actual traffic/navigation apps — and yes, a few games thrown into the mix.

The App Store has over over 650,000 apps and right now app discovery definitely needs improvement. It’s just too difficult to navigate through the categories to find those hidden gems. Apple also announced a new look to the App Store, coming in iOS 6.

For the developers out there–have you noticed any changes in the way your apps have been discovered?

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