Apple denies report saying it favours its own apps in the App Store

Apple has disputed the findings of a Wall Street Journal investigation which claimed it favoured its own apps in the App Store rankings.

According to Wall Street Journal findings, Apple’s own apps often appear higher in the App Store results than third-party apps boasting better reviews. The newspaper carried out an investigation into App Store listings last month – it concluded that in 60% of the store’s categories, Apple’s own apps occupied the first position.

In many cases, the Wall Street Journal reports that apps ranked lower down from rivals such as Google or Amazon were more popular, leading them to believe that Apple favoured its own apps and unfairly awarded them top spot.

The Wall Street Journal also says that for apps which generate revenue (such as via in-app subscriptions) appear first in 95% of searches. These apps tend to be in categories such as music or books.

As an example of this, the Wall Street Journal says that if you were to head to the App Store and search for books, the first result you’re presented with is the Apple Books app – this even though there is no data showing the number of downloads nor a five-star rating.

The Apple algorithm

Compare this with the Kindle App, which shows millions of downloads and a 4.8 average star rating, which sits below both the Apple app and a sponsored placement.

Another bone of contention raised in the report is that many of Apple’s own apps don’t publicly display a star rating, where those of rivals do.

Apple has denied the findings that it artificially favours its own apps in results, telling the Wall Street Journal, “Apple customers have a very strong connection to our products and many of them use search as a way to find and open their apps. This customer usage is the reason Apple has strong rankings in search, and it’s the same reason Uber, Microsoft and so many others often have high rankings as well.”

The firm also says it uses 42 different signals when determining where an app ranks, though much like Google and its ranking algorithm, it keeps the mechanics of that decision secret to ensure results aren’t manipulated.

App Store Optimisation

We have published a couple of helpful posts on App Store optimisation to help you improve your own app visibility:

How to improve your App Store optimisation

4 Actions to optimise your mobile app