App Store search got a second ad. My downloads stayed the same, my costs doubled
Apple has introduced a second ad placement in App Store search results, impacting the visibility of organic downloads. While overall downloads for the author's app remained steady, there was a noticeable shift from organic to paid downloads, leading to doubled ad spending. This change has made it more challenging for indie developers to maintain visibility without relying heavily on paid ads.
- ▪Apple added a second ad placement in App Store search results.
- ▪The author's app, Nihongo, saw a shift from organic downloads to paid downloads after the rollout.
- ▪Ad spending nearly doubled while overall downloads remained flat.
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Apple added a second ad to App Store search results. My downloads stayed flat, my costs doubled After the recent rollout, overall downloads stayed steady but a large chunk of what used to be organic downloads shifted into paid downloads instead. Chris Lindsay 29 May 2026 • 3 min read Share Photo by James Yarema / Unsplash I don’t post much about the business side of indie app development, but I noticed something recently that I think is worth talking about.My Japanese dictionary app, Nihongo, gets almost all of its downloads from App Store search. It’s never been featured by Apple, and it doesn’t appear on any editorial lists, so search visibility is basically everything for the app.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Nihongo Blog.
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