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Apple Asks Developers For Keywords, Finally Find What You Are Searching For

July 29, 2009

easearch

According to AppleInsider, Apple is now asking developers to to add a list of keywords for all apps that are submitted to the App Store to help improve app discovery.  This is hopefully only the first of many promised improvements to the App Store. Developers are now being asked to enter up to 255 characters worth of keywords when submitting their apps.  The addition has been made to iTunes Connect, the service which allows developers to submit their content to the App Store.
"It is important to enter keywords for all applications as soon as possible so your application can continue to be successfully located on the App Store," the update from Apple reads. "Keywords can be updated with the submission of a new binary."
The only question that remains is what, if any measures have been taken to stop developers from entering popular but unrelated keywords to give false results, but apparently the system is already working.  According to AppleInsider, weeks ago when you searched for "EA," the results came up with 15 games from another developer, Digital Chocolate.  The reason being is that in each of Digital Chocolate's game descriptions, the word "each" was abbreviated to "ea." to intentionally reveal false results.  But now, the first 18 results in a search for "EA" are all EA games.  How about that?  A search that actually works! So what do you think is next on Apple's list of improvements to the App Store?

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