How MobileAction determines keyword volume data
Volume is a metric that represents the search traffic of a given keyword, scored on a scale of 5 to 100. This score reflects the relative popularity of a keyword within its platform, rather than an exact search count.
Since the App Store and Google Play Store are two distinct platforms with different user behavior, search characteristics, and traffic volumes, we calculate and assign volume values separately for each store.
App Store Volume
For the App Store, we rely on Apple's own storefront-level (country-level) Popularity Report. Our system monitors this report daily, and the resulting data feeds directly into the volume metric shown on the MobileAction platform. This means App Store volume scores are grounded in data sourced directly from Apple.
Google Play Store Volume
Google does not provide an equivalent popularity report, so our approach for Google Play Store is different. We query our keyword pool against Google's web services and collect the resulting traffic data.
This raw output is then processed by an internal algorithm that normalizes it specifically for the mobile context (i.e., calibrating it to reflect Google Play Store search behavior rather than general web search behavior). The result of this normalization process is the volume score displayed for Google Play Store keywords.
Summary
- App Store volume: Sourced from Apple's daily Popularity Report, observed per storefront.
- Google Play Store volume: Derived from Google web query data, then normalized via an internal algorithm for the mobile/Play Store context.
Because the underlying data sources and calculation methods differ by design, App Store and Google Play volume scores for the same keyword should not be directly compared; each is intended to reflect relative search interest within its own platform.
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