I was surprised earlier today while checking iTunes Top Paid apps section. Waveboard which we told you a lot about was in 4th position only 2 days after its launch.
Did such a simple app that basically just duplicates Google Wave’s iPhone website and that only a few can use because of the invite based system got so popular?
Well it seems like something got messed up because basically overnight the entire ranking got jumbled up. Unfamiliar apps are taking over the spots of long-standing App Store successes and big developers are freaking out as this has a big impact on their sales and nobody wants to believe it represents the reality.
It seems like Apple is now slowly restoring the rankings but we’re still in the dark here.
Did Apple just change the rules ? Is this some way of fighting off the “long tail effect” ?
We’re unable to tell at the moment but we’ll be paying a close attention to this evolution as it could be game changing indeed.
I’d bet it woks similar to the podcasting rankings. Any podcast can suddenly be in the top spot if they suddenly have a lot of new subscribers. This may work the same way. Seems like it SHOULD work more like the iTunes music way, ranked by the overall number of purchases. However, maybe Apple felt this method would allow for lesser known apps to have a topspot occaisionally.
And of course, by “woks” I meant “works”, right?
LOL Long tail effect. I just finished reading that book.