Improvements to the App Store’s search that Apple has rolled out in the past few weeks are producing more intelligent and relevant returns, TechCrunch reports. Where past updates to the store’s algorithms have focused on changes to the way apps are ranked within Top Charts and various categories, the new changes appear to affect how results are returned when users search for apps using a keyword. The improved search now ranks apps using contextual keyword matches or partial matches, and goes beyond the text found in an app’s title or “keyword” slot, expanding the usefulness of the search in finding apps that serve a function which might not be explicitly stated in the app’s name. The new search puts more emphasis on the main features of the app and returns a better range of similar and competing apps. A search for “Twitter,” for example, now returns results for Twitter clients Tweetbot and Twitterrific, where both apps were recently not displayed in those search results at all despite serving the same basic function as Twitter’s own app. Apple hasn’t commented on the change, and how the move will affect app downloads and sales is still unclear.
