How often does SAP update?🤓

❗️Seems like Apple doesn't re-evaluate Search Ads Popularity as often as it used to.

We often encounter periods when SAP remains unchanged. As we counted that in 2022 there were entirely 42 freezes. The longest one in 2023 lasted more than 2 weeks — from Feb 15 till March 5.

☝️ It is important to pay attention to this when analyzing the results.

Kudos: @Raven_RadASO

⚠️ Beware of Scams! ⚠️

We've identified several scam websites falsely claiming to be associated with RadASO, using our logo and branding. We have identified them, and they will be held accountable.

❗️Please note: RadASO does not sell accounts or offer incentive traffic.

If you come across any suspicious accounts and can help us identify the culprits, please report them to us for a reward.

Wondering about the number of organic installs your app receives from iPad devices in the US? 🤔

It's impossible. Unfortunately, App Store Connect only allows two filters at a time (Device, Country, Source).

❓Any ideas on this or are device analytics not your top priority?

We continue the topic of SAP unreliability.

Previously, we talked about the 3 day delay of SAP and its sharp growth and the gradual decline.

Now let's figure out how to identify incentive traffic.🤔

1️⃣For example, we noticed a rapid growth of app impressions in our analytics, but it had no effect on installs🤷‍♂️
This is the first key indicator to pay attention to and we speculate that some competitor has bought incentive traffic.

2️⃣We checked how SAP changed during this period and noticed that SAP by one of the search terms “traductor” increased the next few days after the impressions growth (keep in mind the SAP delay).

3️⃣Then we checked if any of the competitors hit the top of the search result on that day by that keyword. Obviously, we instantly found that one of the apps appeared at the 2nd in Mexico by keyword “traductor”.


📍Takeaways
Incentivized traffic can affect Search Ads Popularity and make it artificial. Before relying on SAP for your ASO performance, make sure it's not incentivized traffic.

In the next post, we will examine specific examples of these cases.
Stay tuned😉

Kudos: @Raven_RadASO

Is English (U.K.) indexed in Japan? 🤔
#appstore

📢Recently, there was news that the English (U.K.) localization is indexed in Japan instead of English (U.S.) according to Apple's documentation.
We decided to check it out because we never trust documentation.

The result:
1️⃣ English (U.S.) continues to be indexed in Japan.
2️⃣ English (U.K.) is indexed in Japan if English (U.S.) or Japanese is not filled in. Example

💡 English (U.K.) is also indexed in the U.S. and Canada if one of the localizations indexed in these countries is not filled in.

☝️ Take these features into account when conducting textual ASO and analyzing the results.

Kudos: @vhubaryk

📉 Google UAC cannibalizes Search

We have noticed a significant decrease in conversion on Google Play from the Search source for our branded search terms over the past few months, as well as an increase in downloads from the Ads and referrals source.

This happened because Google Play started showing ads for branded search terms, previously only the brand's app was displayed at the top without ads: compare.

🔻Consequences:

1️⃣ Since the ads now take the "zero" position, as a result, organic traffic is being cannibalized, which is confirmed by the growth of traffic for branded search terms from the Ads and referrals source.

2️⃣ Your competitors are now advertising using your brand name what can eat up traffic.

🤷‍♂️ The main problem is that in Google UAC, you cannot select search terms for advertising + you cannot specify negative keywords.

📍Cannibalization and interception of branded traffic by competitors is now a new reality for your app on Google Play, and there is no solution for it yet.

❓Have you noticed a decrease in conversion from Search in your apps since the beginning of July 2023?

Kudos: @vhubaryk

📊 The impact of incentive traffic on SAP

Previously, we demonstrated how events and news can influence Search Ads Popularity (SAP), and we also explored how to identify competitors' incentivized traffic.

Let's take a look at some examples of the influence of incentivized traffic on SAP 👆

1️⃣ On June 13, the SAP of the request "voice translator free" in Australia increased sharply — from 5 to 33. The popularity indicators were high for almost a month with a fairly high frequency of updates.

2️⃣ In Canada, we noticed an equally significant example with the query "language learning free". It seems that incentivized traffic was purchased twice.

To sum up all our posts about SAP: we recommend scrutinizing this value more closely and taking into account all the factors that can influence it.

Kudos: @Raven_RadASO

🚀 Monthly Recap: Don't Miss Out!

We are testing a new post format. Feel free to share your feedback in the comments. What specific information would you prefer to see more of?

1️⃣ Boosting App Rankings: App Rating Prompts
Learn how RadASO's App Rating Prompts revolutionize rankings, steering clear of Black ASO. Goodbye to outdated methods!

2️⃣ App Strategies: Seasonal Optimization
Debating app optimization for holidays? Discover RadASO's strategies for seasonal sales and updates – applicable not only during New Year's festivities but also for other holidays throughout the year!

3️⃣ Holiday ASO-Creatives: Inspirations
Explore festive ASO-creatives on Google Play & App Store. Get inspired with New Year's-themed ideas for app attention.

4️⃣ The updated Today tab in the ASA
RadASO noticed the revised layout of the ASA's Today tab, where screenshots now appear in a subtle 'floating' arrangement in the background.

5️⃣ Algorithm Alert
We've noticed changes in the AppStore algorithm, with English (US) locales being indexed globally. More about this on Twitter.

Stay updated with our monthly picks for app success! 📱

🎉 Wishing you a joyous New Year filled with prosperity and app brilliance!

❓Apple Blocks Indexation for Using Certain Brand Names in Metadata❓

The Background

On August 4th, the RadASO team made the first release for the new client. The app gained better positions only to lose them the next day. After that, there was no indexation by the added search terms.

On August 24th, the latest release included the addition of some new search terms. However, this had no effect.

How Did We Act?

For the next release on September 21st, we’ve removed some of the competitors' brand search terms from the metadata.

Specifically, the ones with search results showing less than 20 apps. There were 4 such keywords in the metadata.

📝 Our hypothesis was as follows: Apple probably clears out and blocks from indexing all the apps that use these brand names in their metadata. Despite the popularity of some brands in the target country, there are only a few search results on them.

What Was the Outcome?

Once those brand names were removed from the metadata (on September 22nd), the indexing was renewed, and there was again a notable growth in positions for the search term.

🟢 In this way, the hypothesis was verified: removing some brand search terms with a small number of apps in search results helped to get indexation by other terms used in the metadata in the Apple Store search.

Kudos: @olya_polaris

What's the Cost per Install (Apple calls it CPA) in Apple Search Ads❓

Quite a popular question in chats.
For some reason, when we say, "anywhere from nothing to everything," it doesn't satisfy a questioner, even though it's accurate 😊

We decided to dive into our recent stats and whip up a chart. Classic programmer answer – super precise yet totally useless 😊

The cheapest install costs $0.01, while the most expensive one: $166.
Dropping in a country or category might narrow the range only slightly.

What can we glean from this masterpiece of a chart?

IMHO, nothing 🙂, but feel free to kick around some thoughts in the comments.

🚨 🆘 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐒𝐀𝐏)

Today, all ASO experts have noticed a sharp drop in SAP. Let us explain what happened:

◀️ 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄: Every ASO tool (including us) received SAP through the Apple Search Ads Account (ASA). It allowed us to get it for any keyword.

▶️ 𝐍𝐎𝐖: 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐀𝐏, 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐀𝐏! That is, all keywords it considers irrelevant to the app = SAP 5.

Examples from the ASA:

🔸 PDF Scanner - all irrelevant terms from SAP 5

🔸 Plant Scanner

🔸 Online clothing store

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

This may be temporary, but it's not worth focusing on SAP for now, and if it stays, you need to find another way to assess popularity.

💊 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐀𝐏 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

We and colleagues have found a salvation for all ASO Tools.🙂😌

👉 At the moment, we can get the current SAP from the Apple Search Ads account from the "Search for related keywords" field when manually searching for keywords.
___
Have a question? Discussion in ASO Busters > https://discord.com/invite/kr78W9aSDD in the App Store thread

🆕 Search Ads Popularity (SAP) drops again 📉

Apple has once again made changes to the SAP of certain keywords:

💠 Keywords in all languages that have special characters in different countries (delivery.com, tracker’, 7-11)

💠 Keywords in Asian languages with spaces (顺 丰 快 递, ゆ う パック)

💠 Keywords in Asian (and other) languages that contain a combination with English keywords (ems-中国邮政速递物流, ゆうパケットポストmini)

There are also problems with SAP in some keywords 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 (lazada, h&m, disney+)

It looks like Apple is finally trying to fix a bug with SAP that has existed for years, now it will only show SAP to keywords that are 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 searched for.

❌ Negative Consequences

⬅️Previously, Apple assigned the same popularity to one keyword in different modifications.

➡️ Now, if ASO specialists consider such keywords unpopular and remove them from metadata, they may lose positions for the keywords in another modification with high SAP.

✅ Positive Consequences

If the algorithm is finally fixed, ASO specialists will be able to clean the semantic core of "junk phrases" that are not truly popular.

Will these changes last? Subscribe to us and let's see. 👀

Let's discuss it on ASO Busters in Discord 👉

Kudos: @iryna_kuznietsova

✅ Win-back offers for auto-renewable subscriptions now available in App Store

They allow us to reach previous subscribers and encourage them to resubscribe to our app or game 💪

Apple displays these offers to eligible customers in various places across the App Store, including:
- on your product page❗️
- in personalized recommendations
- on editorial selections on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs

You can find them in the Subscriptions section of App Store Console, particularly in the Subscription Prices here. Also, you can read more about them here.

So, for us as ASO-specialists, this is an additional free channel that can bring extra revenue with relevant users.☝️

Kudos: @ira_biz

🔥 Why SAP scores dropped after Oct 1st 🍏

On October 1, 2025, Apple stopped showing Search Ads Popularity (SAP) for keywords with scores below ~50.
The first to notice this was Igor Kravchenko (@gorniv).
It looked like Apple killed low-frequency keyword data… but here’s what really happened 👇

💎 Apple introduced a new “Monthly Search Term Rank Report” inside Apple Ads cabinet > Insights. 👉 And here’s the kicker: Apple has never shared this data openly before

💎It shows Search Popularity by country and month, with up to 15 months of historical data.

💎 Two metrics are now interesting for us:
- Search Popularity (1–100) → the values all ASO/Apple Ads tools use 👀
- Search Popularity (1–5) → what was hidden behind "blue dots"

⚠️ Current limitations
🔸 Search terms with SAP<37 aren’t shown (didn't find a smaller value)

🔸 Only 7,500 rows displayed

🔸 Still in beta - some features (like charts) don’t work properly.

Takeaway
So, the SAP drop you see in ASO tools = Apple syncing it with this new report, where we cannot see low-frequency data by search terms.
Now we have to wait and hope that Apple will fix this.

📘 Official Apple manual: “Search Term Rank Report”
___
Kudos: @max_foux

How can you update your #AppStore screenshots without a new build or release? 🍏

Some ASO specialists (like @alexandra_tgm) have already written about this, but many people still don't know about this tip.

So if you find it difficult to constantly go through new app reviews, here's a life hack:
1️⃣ Launch an A/B-test using Product Page Optimization (PPO)

2️⃣ Once the test is reviewed and approved, hit “Apply Treatment A” - and your new screenshots go live immediately for the current version. ✅

The result?
So you can refresh your screenshot set, test its performance, and roll out visually updated assets - without waiting for a new version or build submission. 🦾

#AppleAds: Search results expansion in 2026

Now:
- Ads appear only at the top of App Store search results

In 2026:
- Ads can appear both (❗️) at the top and further down in search results

No campaign changes needed - all Search Results campaigns are automatically eligible. You can’t choose or bid on a specific position.
Ad format and billing (CPT / CPI) remain the same.

💡 In theory, this unlocks the ability to measure how much traffic actually reaches lower search positions and how it converts vs top placement - a new signal for understanding user intent and scroll depth in App Store search.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲: 𝗔𝗦𝗢 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 and Apple

Kudos: @max_foux and @Mariia_Povolotska