ASO news digest for May 2023

In May, Google unveiled several significant updates at I/O 2023: new store listing enhancements, AI tools, monetization features, and more. Apple announced that the company terminated 428,000 developer accounts involved in fraudulent activity in 2022. Asodesk introduced a 45% discount on ASO plans for new users.

Contents

1. Google announced new store listing enhancements at I/O 2023
2. Google revealed new AI features for app developers at I/O 2023
3. Google shared new methods to enhance user discovery at I/O 2023
4. Google announced new effective monetization features at I/O 2023
5. Google unveiled new enhancements to privacy and security protection at I/O 2023
6. Google announced new price experiments with Google Play Console
7. Google Play has begun displaying ads and limited-time events within its search history
8. Apple asked developers to prepare for latest releases
9. Apple has 1.78 million apps and 37 million developers on the App Store
10. Apple deleted 428,000 developer accounts and 282 million customer accounts involved in fraudulent activity in 2022
11. Asodesk is offering 45% off for new clients
12. Asodesk now syncs with iOS 16

Google Play news

Google announced new store listing enhancements at I/O 2023

At I/O 2023, Google introduced some updates which will assist you in designing superior, customized content that catalyzes the expansion of your audience base.

1. Last year, Google introduced a new feature allowing apps to generate a minimum of 50 custom store listings. Now, you have even more flexibility to personalize your listings based on various criteria, besides country and pre-registration status. In an effort to re-engage inactive users, you can now customize their app pages, encouraging users to reconnect with the app.

2. Google will soon introduce custom store listings for Google Ads App campaign ad groups. This feature will enable more coherent user experiences from Google Ads, from AdMob and YouTube to Google Play.

3. With these enhancements, managing numerous listings has been simplified through the launch of store listing groups. This allows you to create a base listing and then modify specific elements for different audiences.

4. To bridge language gaps, Google has unveiled new machine translation models for 10 languages from Google Translate in the Play Console, offering a quick and cost-free translation of apps and store listings.

Google revealed new AI features for app developers at I/O 2023

Google announced new AI-fueled features which make it effortless for you to showcase your app’s best features and for users to discover your apps.

You can now use Google’s generative AI technology to simplify the creation of store listings in English. This innovative feature streamlines content drafting. You simply need to activate the AI assistant, input a few prompts such as target audience and primary theme, and receive a draft ready for editing, discarding, or using as is. The developer maintains total control over what is submitted and published.

In an effort to make user reviews more accessible and informative, Google is introducing review summaries, powered by its generative AI technology. Initially launched as an English-language experiment, this feature is set to expand later in the year. These review summaries allow users to gain quick access to key opinions about an app or game from other users’ feedback.

Google shared new methods to enhance user discovery at I/O 2023

Google Play is providing ways to boost user discovery by partnering with developers to highlight key events, fresh content, and appealing deals. You will be able to use the promotional content feature to boost your app’s growth — a strategy that nearly 25,000 apps and games are already using. This feature will be available to more titles later this year.

1. Google is launching multiple new, dedicated high-traffic spaces to display exciting content, including via Play notifications. Participating games are seeing a 20% average increase in acquisitions and reacquisitions, mostly due to a 60% surge in organic Explore traffic.

2. To improve the visibility and performance of your promotional content on Play, Google is updating the reporting system. These changes will allow you to track and optimize your events effectively. Explore this feature in the Play Console under “Promotional content performance reports”.

High-quality apps and games that provide excellent user experiences can take advantage of these growth opportunities.

3. Recently, Google introduced a unified quality framework for apps and games, outlining the quality evaluation process for promotional content. Developers can learn more about it in this article and the I/O session titled “What great quality looks like on Play”.

Google announced new effective monetization features at I/O 2023

Google will launch a new promotional feature, “featured products”, enabling direct selling of in-app items on the Play Store. This can be customized for each country or include discounts to boost user engagement and conversion.

New subscription updates aim to broaden reach, increase conversions, and enhance user retention. You can now set multiple prices for each billing period, enabling you to offer a range of auto-renewal and prepaid plan prices as you see fit.

Last year, Google introduced a dedicated deep links page in the Play Console, pinpointing broken links and offering solutions. In the near future, they aim to simplify web-to-app mapping, providing an easy review of primary website URLs and their deep link statuses. A new feature is also in the works to facilitate deep link validation by comparing the app and web experience for a specific URL.

Learn more about deep links in the “Optimize app experiences with deep linking” talk.

Google unveiled new enhancements to privacy and security protection at I/O 2023

Google is continuing to improve Google Play and Store Console to support you in offering safe, reliable experiences to users.

Last year, Google introduced the Data Safety section. This section reveals what data your app might collect or share, and has become a regular tool for millions of users to gauge app safety prior to installation.

The next upgrade will provide new data deletion options, both inside and outside an app, with the addition of policy requirements. This will allow you to offer users the flexibility to erase specific data, such as activity history or multimedia files, instead of deleting their entire account.

For clearer task management, developers will see a refreshed App Content page. This new design will highlight outstanding tasks and compliance steps more effectively. Soon, it will also present upcoming declaration obligations and deadlines.

Lastly, developers will experience a revamped Play Console App. This new version allows developers to customize the homepage to focus on the metrics that matter most to them. It also offers an integrated Inbox to ensure developers can stay on top of crucial Google Play updates. You can download the open beta version of the app. 

Google announced new price experiments with Google Play Console

At the recent Google I/O, the tech giant emphasized that its new monetization tools are deeply integrated into Google Play, and they are designed to optimize developers’ pricing strategies. These tools could foster an increase in user lifetime value, attract more buyers, improve conversions, and stimulate repeat orders.

Google also unveiled its upcoming tool, price experiments for in-app products in the Play Console, which will allow developers to test and optimize product prices according to local purchasing power. With this feature, developers can conduct A/B tests for optimal local pricing, providing better access to their apps and games for different market segments.

Additionally, the tool offers users the ability to monitor statistical significance with confidence interval tracking. It helps streamline developers’ decision-making process by providing insights into key monetization metrics like revenue uplift, buyer ratio, and average revenue per user. This information not only outlines buyer behaviors across markets but also shapes a solid global monetization strategy.

This tool is also expected to enhance return on investment in user acquisition by enabling developers to optimize their User Acquisition strategy based on understanding buyer behavior in each market.

Price experiments can be set up in minutes in the Monetize > Products > Price experiments section in the Play Console. Developers will have complete control over what and how they want to test without changing any coding.

Google encourages developers to start preparing now and consider running their first price experiment. They can also learn how to conduct effective pricing experiments for in-app products through Google’s new Play Academy course.

Google Play has begun displaying ads and limited-time events within its search history

Previously, when you clicked on the search bar at the top of the Google Play app, it would only show your four most recent searches. However, now you could see up to three “limited-time events” as well as “sponsored suggestions”, placed above your previous search history.

These limited-time events are commonly used to advertise streaming apps, especially when there’s an exciting sports game coming up or notable in-app events. Usually presented as cards in the primary feeds of the Play Store, these events now pop up in your search history, complete with the app’s name, icon, rating, and download numbers.

Furthermore, “sponsored suggestions” are now being displayed by Google Play, clearly labeled as an “Ad”. Despite this clear labeling, some users view these time-sensitive events as similar to ads. Both ad types and the time-sensitive events vanish as soon as you start typing your search.

As a result, your previous searches have been pushed further down, indicating a shift in the company’s priorities. In a minor change, icons appearing next to past searches have been made more noticeable to aid in easier categorization.

App Store news

Apple asked developers to prepare for latest releases

Apple has released the beta versions of iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, macOS 13.5, tvOS 16.6, and watchOS 9.6. The company asked developers to prepare their apps for this update by confirming they work as expected on these releases. To benefit from the advancements in the latest SDKs, it’s recommended to build and test with Xcode 14.3.1.

For updates on any known issues from previous beta releases or possible workarounds, you can review the latest release notes. 

Apple has 1.78 million apps and 37 million developers on the App Store

Apple has published its first 2022 App Store Transparency Report as part of a global agreement with App Store developers established in 2021. The report provides detailed information on app removals and appeals, termination of developer accounts, government requests for app removal, and more.

Here are some intriguing numbers from the report:

• The total number of apps on the App Store in 2022 was 1,783,232.
• The total number of registered developers is 36,974,015.
• The average number of accounts searching the App Store per week is 373,211,396.
• The number of accounts closed is 428,487.
• The number of appeals made is 3,338, of which 159 were reinstated.
• There were 6,101,913 app submissions, and 1,679,694 were rejected. 
• The main reasons for rejection are Safety, Performance, Business, Design, and Legal issues.
• The number of apps approved after rejections is 253,466.
• The number of apps removed from the App Store is 186,195.
• The top categories for removals are Games, Utilities, Business, Education, and Lifestyle.
• The top reasons for removal are Design, Fraud, Developer Code of Conduct, Intellectual Property Infringement, Spam.
• The top countries for app removals are China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey.

Apple deleted 428,000 developer accounts and 282 million customer accounts involved in fraudulent activity in 2022

Apple issued a press release on how the company was combating fraud in 2022. The company blocked $2 billion in potential fraudulent transactions and rejected almost 1.7 million app submissions on the App Store due to non-compliance with privacy, security, and content standards.

Account Fraud: Apple thwarted 428,000 developer and 282 million customer accounts involved in fraudulent activity. Improvements to Apple’s systems resulted in a reduction of terminated accounts from 802,000 in 2021 to 428,000 in 2022.

App Review: This service provided vital protection against unsafe apps, rejecting nearly 1.7 million submissions in 2022 due to varied concerns including fraud and privacy. App Review also prevented almost 84,000 potentially fraudulent apps from reaching users on the App Store.

Ratings and Reviews: Over 1 billion ratings and reviews were processed in 2022. Apple blocked and removed more than 147 million inauthentic ratings and reviews that didn’t meet moderation standards.

Payment and Credit Card Fraud: Apple barred a record $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022, banning 714,000 fraudulent accounts. Nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards were prevented from being used for illicit purchases.

Find more statistics in Apple’s press release. 

Asodesk news

Asodesk is offering 45% off for new clients

Asodesk is offering an enticing discount of up to 45% off for a three-month subscription. Aimed at supporting businesses in their quest for organic growth, Asodesk makes the affordability of the ASO tools suite a priority, charging as little as $99 for a three-month period — considerably more affordable than their competition.

Subscribers to the Power or Ultimate plans will also receive a complimentary consultation with Asodesk’s Head of ASO, offering valuable advice on increasing app installations through search and optimizing conversion rates.

In addition, Asodesk guarantees subscribers of affordable long-term deals once the initial subscription has ended. For those still on the fence, Asodesk provides a 14-day free trial of their ASO tools and a complimentary tour of their top features.

Asodesk now syncs with iOS 16

Asodesk has announced an important update for its users: their ASO tools now display search results and top charts from the latest version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 16. It provides Asodesk’s users with access to the most recent data so that they can make informed ASO decisions.

Asodesk has introduced a marker on the graphs of their ASO tools to indicate this transition. If you haven’t tried Asodesk yet, give the platform a try on a 14-day free trial.

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