Poor performing apps to be downranked in the Google Play Store

Google has been taking concrete steps to ensure that malicious and spam apps stay off the Play Store. But still, there are many poorly performing apps on the Play Store. To tackle this problem, Google is now incorporating app quality signals in its ranking algorithms so that better performing apps are ranked higher than apps with bugs and performance issues.

Google says that "the new ranking algorithm is to ensure that the best apps are being promoted, which in turn leads to increased app usage and engagement." The impetus for this change came after Google realized that around half of the 1-star reviews on the Google Play Store were about app stability problems. The new updated algorithm will affect both charts and search results.

In a blog post, Andrew Ahn, Product Manager, Google Play writes, "As part of our continued effort to deliver the best possible Google Play experience, we recently enhanced our search and discovery algorithms to reflect app quality. This results in higher quality apps being surfaced in the Play Store more than similar apps of lower quality (eg: apps that exhibit more frequent crashes). The change has had a positive impact on engagement — we’ve seen that people go on to use higher quality apps more and uninstall them less."

The move should force developers of buggy apps to address the issue at the earliest or be prepared to be penalized. The new algorithm will also help the apps to surface higher in the rankings and search results and ultimately bring in more users.

The updated algorithm has already started rolling out across the Google Play Store worldwide.