ASO: 12 Did You Knows About Google Play

While the App Store and Google Play Store are similar in their chief regard (distributing apps) as well as many others, they both differ in some pretty significant ways. Here are 12 "did you knows" about Google Play to boost your knowledge:

1. You can view localized listings for any country in your web browser by typing "view-source:" and then the URL of a Google Play app. Scroll down until you see the series of localized listings URLs and select any link to view it live. Or, add "&hl=" onto the end of any app's URL and add a country code, like "&hl=zh_CN"

2. View short descriptions in your web browser with this handy Chrome plugin by ASO allstar Daniel Perris of PickASO and The Tool (or by using view:source and looking for "title=" in the source code).

3. Google may soon allow developers to test up to 75% (or more) of their Play Store traffic, up from the current maximum of 50%.

4. You can reply to your Android user reviews, which are displayed along with the review in your app's live listing (coming soon: replying to iOS reviews in the App Store). Check out our post on the topic to learn more about why replying to user reviews is a vital activity.

5. Google shows you how your app's organic conversion rate compares to other apps in your category and pricing tier.

6. Your Android icon will show up in mobile Google Play searches if your app appears in the auto-fill results.

7. Screenshots do not show in search results; only your icon, developer name, title (sometimes truncated), feature status (e.g. editor's choice/top developer), pricing and star rating appear in mobile Google Play searches. Bonus: changing your developer name is as easy as entering in a new name (up to 50 characters) in your account details.

8. Your screenshots are pretty low on the visibility totem poll. The first thing that users see when tapping into your app page is your feature graphic (or video), followed by your icon and title, total downloads (the lower range estimate), total reviews, category, any applicable store features, what's new, short description and finally screenshots.

9. Google breaks down how users rate different features (or qualities) of your app, and will also pull common phrases or keywords in reviews are now supplied as "review highlights," indicating in how many reviews such keywords appeared.

10. Users can install directly from search results, just like in the App Store.

11. Some searches include several different groupings of apps, rather than one simple ranking of the apps most relevant to a keyword search.

12. Google Play has a "top trending" chart, in addition to top free/paid/grossing.

That's all for now, folks! Be sure to bookmark our blog, sign up to our email newsletter for new post updates and reach out if you're interested in working with us.

Incipia is a mobile app development and marketing agency that builds and markets apps for companies, with a specialty in high-quality, stable app development and keyword-based marketing strategy, such as App Store Optimization and Apple Search Ads. For post topics, feedback or business inquiries please contact us, or send an inquiry to hello@incipia.co.