Microsoft has announced some changes to the Windows Store on Windows 10 in order to make app rankings more accurate and increase the visibility of quality apps. According to Microsoft, In addition to improving app visibility, later this month the Store will also optimize the algorithms that determine which app reviews are shown in Dev Center and Windows Store
Here’s the full breakdown from Microsoft:
More accurate rankings: The algorithm used to rank search results has been adjusted to give more weight to app quality signals such as the number of downloads and ratings. When searching for apps or games, customers now see apps with more downloads and higher ratings earlier in search results.
Search enhancements: The algorithm to index apps has been updated to make apps easier to be discovered, specifically when searching by app name and related keywords. The Store will continue to limit search visibility for apps that don’t meet quality requirements, such as those that abuse keywords or are considered spam, as described in the Give Your Apps More Visibility blog .
Support process adjustments: Developer support is reviewing tickets opened for app search and visibility issues, to confirm they are solved by the two updates mentioned above or to identify any remaining gaps before a ticket is closed.
In addition to the above changes, Microsoft says that it will start including app reviews improvement to the store also.
Therefore, starting in March, reviews created by customers running Windows 10 Insider Preview ‘Slow ring’ will be shown in both Dev Center and the Store. Reviews created by customers using the Windows 10 Insider Preview ‘Fast ring’ will continue to be hidden to protect developers from negative reviews that may be due to preview builds of Windows 10 rather than app quality.
With this change, more reviews will be visible in the Store, while keeping some protections in place for any issues seen by fast ring customers that could impact app ratings. Both the app visibility updates and app review changes will help increase app visibility in the Store, while aiding customers in finding high value and relevant apps.
