App Store vs. Google Play

Following up from last week’s “knowledge of algorithms” topics is the differences between the App Store and Google Play. An obvious difference in App Store presence is the subtitles and a short description in Google Play. The App Store has a keywords field whereas Google Play uses the Title/Description for keyword density. I’ve also read that Google Play uses backlinks like traditional SEO but have no found a source from Google or a higher authority than some software vendors to confirm that. Like other information it’s very hard to determine what algorithmic factors are at play.

I created this chart to remind my of the items, particularly the character counts.

• Google Play algorithm uses text fields and keyword density whereas App Store has keywords field, though I doubt this is all their rely on

• Pay more attention to descriptive keywords in App Title for Google Play as there is no subtitle or screenshots to view

• Apple description shows ~115 characters when visiting the app page

• Google Play uses inbound links as a ranking factor (need to find an official source on this)

I’ve been guilt of porting over an App Store description for Google Play but usually I do rewrite according to keyword populating from each store but are there distinct writing styles or formats we should be using?

There were some interesting articles I found on the differences between the App Store and Google Play.

Apple App Store vs. Google Play Store: 7 differences in ASO

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)? The in-depth guide for 2023

And that is all for today!

Melanie