It seems Apple is making a number of changes with the app store?s ranking last week. There seem to be new weights on top of download numbers to determine the top apps. It?s too fresh to tell what the weights actually are. It is reasonable to assume however that Apple is considering factors such as active usage. After the changes one of the most significant jumps was the Facebook app which took over the number one spot in free apps in the United States where normally it was positioned between positions ten and twenty. Obviously the app will have high usage which gives credence to the idea that activity is now playing a stronger role in the rankings. According to AppData facebook app is used by 39.5 million users daily. Also shown is the movement of Netflix from between thirty and fifty to nineteen and Pandora which is now at six but usually was in the twenties. So it does look more and more like activity will play a big part on what apps are ranked at the top.
Me personally I think this ranking is a good idea. Instead of people spamming downloads to get the rankings up, people will actually have to do what you actually download it for, which is to use it! I hope that all companies follow these types of algorithms, such as blackberry and Android. It will help people in the marketplace not only find apps that are popular but are also used on a daily basis.
