4 ms·

Agreed! This happens with my own app as well! Apparently the app title, even when an exact match to your search query, is no longer considered important. If th

by wes-exp 14y ago

Agreed! This happens with my own app as well! Apparently the app title, even when an exact match to your search query, is no longer considered important. If there is one thing Apple truly fails at, it is search.

eco 14y ago
The Android Market had this same problem in the early days. It was frustrating but pretty amusing how terrible Google, of all companies, was at getting search right in their app store.
- wahsd 14y ago
  Granted, but, seriously, Apple has never even feigned search-fu and MS/Bing has a better chance of making search even a competition. On a side note, and this might titillate you; I am seeing serious cracks in Google's search skills as their other assets lack search or it is rather clunky. Now if Bing just didn't suck so bad, there might even be a challenger.
- zrgiu_ 14y ago
  still does. Try searching for something relevant, see where an app with that exact name is placed. Example: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=child+books&c=apps The app named "Child Books" comes after coloring book, Nook, WebMD and many others. It's just that popularity matters MUCH much more than what you actually search for, and it takes days from the moment of getting popular (Google Maps style) to the moment when the algorithms start noticing.
  - css771 14y ago
    A better way to search for an app called "child books" would be to use quotes around it.[1] But I agree, Google Play's search can still be improved. Currently a search for GTA vice city [2] places the actual game in third place behind other related apps. These apps are The important thing to note is that both these apps have 100,000+ downloads while the game is <50,000 right now. So the number of downloads is given a higher weight than name (as it should be.) But the actual game should get a better rank than other things. As time goes on and more sites link to the game and more people download it, this will improve. [1]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=%22child+books%22&c=apps https://play.google.com/store/search?q=%22child+books%22&#38... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=gta+vice+city&c=apps https://play.google.com/store/search?q=gta+vice+city&c=a...
    - yohui 14y ago
      > Currently a search for GTA vice city [2] places the actual game in third place behind other related apps. Looks like that's already changed in the last 3 hours. Now shows up in first place for me. Third place is currently some ripoff scam app, which is another problem. (Is there any way to report clear ripoff/spam apps from the web storefront? Had to into Google Play to report "objectionable content", which was the closest I could find to a fraud report.)
  - tonfa 14y ago
    In that case it isn't clear why an app named "child books" should be on top. It's a very generic name.
    - wilfra 14y ago
      Right. The reason they can't do that is because people can easily game the system by just naming their apps popular search terms. It's the same reason simply owning 'thing.com' doesn't make it your rite to be ranked #1 in google for 'thing'.
- SCdF 14y ago
  Same thing happened with Gmail back at the start. I guess it goes to show that web searches are a very specific kind of search, and just because Google is good at that doesn't mean it's good at anything else (relevance on the web is one obvious way it deviates from pretty much anything else you search)
Terretta 14y ago
I believe that was a deliberate tweak in response to the throngs of spam apps titling themselves by the key search terms of popular apps -- and the throngs of users complaining when they idiotically bought one of the spam apps instead of the real app.
- hnriot 14y ago
  while that might be true, it's the wrong way to solve the problem.
  - IheartApplesDix 14y ago
    Not if you like making money on unnecessary purchases.
wahsd 14y ago
...don't forget maps. They failed at that too. But I can tell you that it was not necessarily Apple that failed at maps. The same problems I had with Apple maps were there in Magellan GPS and their map and content provider Navteq....which is Apple Maps' map, nav, and data provider. Ever notice when you were doing the turn-by-turn directions that there is a lag in the marker that leads you to miss or almost miss turns, especially in complex intersections....that lag was a huge issue 8 years ago, as it is today. In all that time, Navteq did very little, it seems, to improve routing, maps, or navigation. I was just using Apple Maps yesterday (I'm a very patient and open minded person that gives several unbiased opportunities) when I was told to go around this very short road segment. Turns out it was probably because the segment it marked as "No Thru Trucks". Those Navteq annoyances are what made Magellan GPS horrible and after who knows how long of doing nothing to improve them, Navteq has brought Apple to its knees.
- timothya 14y ago
  One of Apple's biggest failings in its Maps, though, was its search. Many many users were reporting that searches would take them to entirely different areas if they weren't worded perfectly.

by wes-exp 14y ago

eco 14y ago

The Android Market had this same problem in the early days. It was frustrating but pretty amusing how terrible Google, of all companies, was at getting search right in their app store.

wahsd 14y ago
Granted, but, seriously, Apple has never even feigned search-fu and MS/Bing has a better chance of making search even a competition. On a side note, and this might titillate you; I am seeing serious cracks in Google's search skills as their other assets lack search or it is rather clunky. Now if Bing just didn't suck so bad, there might even be a challenger.
zrgiu_ 14y ago
still does. Try searching for something relevant, see where an app with that exact name is placed. Example: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=child+books&c=apps The app named "Child Books" comes after coloring book, Nook, WebMD and many others. It's just that popularity matters MUCH much more than what you actually search for, and it takes days from the moment of getting popular (Google Maps style) to the moment when the algorithms start noticing.
- css771 14y ago
  A better way to search for an app called "child books" would be to use quotes around it.[1] But I agree, Google Play's search can still be improved. Currently a search for GTA vice city [2] places the actual game in third place behind other related apps. These apps are The important thing to note is that both these apps have 100,000+ downloads while the game is <50,000 right now. So the number of downloads is given a higher weight than name (as it should be.) But the actual game should get a better rank than other things. As time goes on and more sites link to the game and more people download it, this will improve. [1]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=%22child+books%22&c=apps https://play.google.com/store/search?q=%22child+books%22&#38... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=gta+vice+city&c=apps https://play.google.com/store/search?q=gta+vice+city&c=a...
  - yohui 14y ago
    > Currently a search for GTA vice city [2] places the actual game in third place behind other related apps. Looks like that's already changed in the last 3 hours. Now shows up in first place for me. Third place is currently some ripoff scam app, which is another problem. (Is there any way to report clear ripoff/spam apps from the web storefront? Had to into Google Play to report "objectionable content", which was the closest I could find to a fraud report.)
- tonfa 14y ago
  In that case it isn't clear why an app named "child books" should be on top. It's a very generic name.
  - wilfra 14y ago
    Right. The reason they can't do that is because people can easily game the system by just naming their apps popular search terms. It's the same reason simply owning 'thing.com' doesn't make it your rite to be ranked #1 in google for 'thing'.
SCdF 14y ago
Same thing happened with Gmail back at the start. I guess it goes to show that web searches are a very specific kind of search, and just because Google is good at that doesn't mean it's good at anything else (relevance on the web is one obvious way it deviates from pretty much anything else you search)

Terretta 14y ago

I believe that was a deliberate tweak in response to the throngs of spam apps titling themselves by the key search terms of popular apps -- and the throngs of users complaining when they idiotically bought one of the spam apps instead of the real app.

hnriot 14y ago
while that might be true, it's the wrong way to solve the problem.
- IheartApplesDix 14y ago
  Not if you like making money on unnecessary purchases.

wahsd 14y ago

...don't forget maps. They failed at that too. But I can tell you that it was not necessarily Apple that failed at maps. The same problems I had with Apple maps were there in Magellan GPS and their map and content provider Navteq....which is Apple Maps' map, nav, and data provider. Ever notice when you were doing the turn-by-turn directions that there is a lag in the marker that leads you to miss or almost miss turns, especially in complex intersections....that lag was a huge issue 8 years ago, as it is today. In all that time, Navteq did very little, it seems, to improve routing, maps, or navigation. I was just using Apple Maps yesterday (I'm a very patient and open minded person that gives several unbiased opportunities) when I was told to go around this very short road segment. Turns out it was probably because the segment it marked as "No Thru Trucks". Those Navteq annoyances are what made Magellan GPS horrible and after who knows how long of doing nothing to improve them, Navteq has brought Apple to its knees.

timothya 14y ago
One of Apple's biggest failings in its Maps, though, was its search. Many many users were reporting that searches would take them to entirely different areas if they weren't worded perfectly.