ASO News – Google Play Console’s Surprising New Update

Hagar Seri 07 March 2023

ASO News – Google Play Console’s Surprising New Update

Did you spot something unexpected in your recent Play Console Store Listing Acquisitions Report or conversion analysis? We’re here to tell you it’s not a mistake but rather a surprising new update.

Keep reading to learn how these changes can affect your app’s visibility & acquisition reports.

Acquisition reports are essential tools for ASO marketers to evaluate the performance of their store listings on Google Play. Through these reports, we can examine overall acquisition trends and insights into where the acquisitions are coming from and measure the impact of any changes made to the store listing.

This data is essential in determining if marketing campaigns are driving quality visitors that convert and identify areas of underperformance against competitors so improvements can be made.

To understand the significance of Google Play Console’s latest update, we should look back to November 2022 when Google Play revealed that Search and Explore traffic no longer included paid traffic.

This resulted in all paid traffic being incorporated into third-party referrals. This change allowed marketers to have more accurate metrics and insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Google Play Console’s Traffic Values Update

Starting February 20th, data relating to users’ categorical searches in the Google Play Store will now be categorized as ‘Google Play explore’ traffic rather than ‘Google Play search’ traffic in Play Console reporting.

*Google Play Console’s definition changes to acquisition traffic sources values.* *Source*

We believe this shift’s purpose was meant to give marketers a better understanding of how users discover and engage with their apps. However, this change may present difficulties when it comes to monitoring and reporting for app store optimization (ASO), with CVR being traditionally lower when considering ‘Google Play explore’ traffic metrics, making it harder to accurately assess the success of their efforts.

Google Play Console Report Changes — *Traffic Changes in Google Play Console’s Store Listing Acquisitions Report.*
*Source:* *@ilyakuh* *on Twitter*

Tips for Ensuring Accurate ASO Reporting

This recent update has caused a lot of confusion within the ASO community, and for a good reason. Many marketers are now left wondering how they’ll be able to ensure accurate ASO reporting moving forward.

Here are our best tips on how to deal with the recent Google Play Console update:

Keep tracking individual keyword rankings for your app, and cross-reference these with other metrics and reports.
Learn about App Store Optimization best practices to ensure maximum visibility for your app.
Regularly check whether your app has been featured on the Google Play Store or any other changes that may affect its visibility.
Stay ahead of the algorithm by consulting with an ASO agency to increase the visibility of your app and its content in the app stores, create effective strategies that drive organic downloads, and boost the app’s rankings on both Apple and Google Play.

Hagar Seri

Hagar Seri is Moburst's Head of ASO & Mobile CRO. She specializes in App Store Optimization and works with dozens of apps and games in various categories to maximize their visibility and conversion rates in the app stores. Her spirit animal is the Giant Panda, and she's still waiting for her letter from Hogwarts.