Apple augments App Store to filter out garbage apps

One of the big problems with the Apple App Store is that there are a ton of opportunistic keyword-reliant garbage apps that swamp every possible search term. Unless you know the exact name of the app, you will likely run into a bunch of clones. Apple is hoping to solve this issue by developing a series of search algorithms that will aid app discovery.

App rankings for search results now appear to take into account factors that go beyond simple keyword listings, like partial keyword matches and competitor brand names, somewhat de-emphasizing the keywords that developers enter manually. As an example, a search for “Twitter” now brings up relevant apps like Tweetbot, something that didn’t happen before the shift.

This is the first time the App Store has ranked apps for keywords that are not in the title or the “keyword,” slot.