Microsoft improves Windows Store's app visibility

Finding apps that are published in Windows Store should not be a problem, but this is exactly what some developers have been complaining about. It seems that when conducting a search there are titles that do not show up in the results, even though the query matches their name. As a developer put, it is a "disaster".

This is a problem not only for the developers who have worked hard to make apps for Windows Store, but also for Microsoft and its users. After all, what the search feature turns out reflects the quality of the app store. This issue may now be gone, as the software giant says that app visibility has finally been improved.

This also serves as an official acknowledgment of the issues reported by developers across the web. When I first covered these issue, the software giant was serving the same pre-written answer to anyone complaining about being unable to find their apps. Undoubtedly, this has caused frustration for many developers.

The way that app visibility has been improved is by delivering more accurate rankings and tweaking the indexing algorithm so that better search results are offered. Microsoft specifically names the app's name and related keywords as the areas of focus in the latter case.

And, when developers still encounter issues, Microsoft says that developer support is now reviewing tickets that relate to these issues to confirm whether its updates fixed the reported issues. Apparently, tickets will not be closed without identifying "any remaining gaps", which is good news.

This does not mean that all apps will now show up in search results. Developers still have to make sure that they are following the guidelines offered by the software giant, and that their titles are not spammy or abuse keywords.

How app reviews are managed has also changed, Microsoft says. The idea is to hide reviews that do not meet the requirements, so that users who look at an app's reviews do not see "fraudulent" or spammy reviews.

Also, reviews published by Windows Insiders who are on the Slow ring will be displayed starting in March, because Microsoft says that the ratings do not differ substantially. Reviews published by Windows Insiders on the Fast ring will be hidden however, "to protect developers from negative reviews that may be due to preview builds of Windows 10 rather than app quality".

Image Credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock