1）Fiksu最新报告指出，苹果最近更新了App Store排名算法，仅将应用安装量作为排名因素，但每三个小时会进行一次更新（原先是每15分钟更新一次），以便增加一个缓冲时间，最小化由广告刺激或刷排名机制推动的下载量。

苹果本次算法调整将用户评价和应用排名联系在一起，因此对于应用营销者而言，提供积极的应用体验，获得忠实用户的良好评价更为重要。

appinsider_ratings(from appadvice.com)

在7月底，至少获得四星评价的应用在App Store中的排名显著上升，而最多只有三星评价的应用排名则急剧下滑，拥有3.5星评价的普通应用排名也略有下滑。

2）App Annie最近报告显示，今年上半年用户在苹果App Store游戏中的投入仍然居首，是Google Play的两倍，甚至超过了任天堂3DS索尼PSP等主机游戏。

今年第一季度，Google Play游戏收益低于主机游戏平台，但在第二季度超越过了后者，仅次于苹果App Store。

3）游戏调研公司EEDAR最新报告指出，男性在手机游戏中的消费意愿远超女性用户。在3000多名智能手机和平板电脑玩家受访者中，男性在手机游戏“鲸鱼”玩家（高消费用户）中占比66%（游戏邦注：鲸鱼用户在所有付费玩家中仅占比5%）。

payer(from toucharcade.com)

在非付费手机游戏玩家中，女性占比65%，而男性仅占比35%。

鲸鱼玩家每周在手机游戏中的平均投入时间为11.8小时，而一般的“非付费玩家”平均投入仅为4.1小时，普遍付费玩家平均投入4.9小时。鲸鱼玩家每天有24%的非睡眠时间用于玩电子游戏，而非付费玩家一般仅在移动设备上玩游戏。

4）据gamezebo报道，迪士尼最近再次向加拿大App Store发布两款免费游戏，其中一款是要求玩家从恶毒王后手中拯救白雪公主和七个小矮人的《Snow White:The Queen’s Return》，另一款是基于《爱丽丝漫游记》的新游戏《Alice in Wonderland:A New Champion》。

Snow White(from gamezebo)

Alice in Wonderland(from gamezebo)

5）据mobile-ent报道，Facebook最近发布信息图表数据显示，目前用户每月使用Facebook登录应用程序超过8.5亿次，在美国iOS前100名热门应用榜单中有81款应用，以及Android前100名的62款热门应用使用Facebook登录功能。

Facebook登录功能的用户转化率达80%，这意味着80%使用Facebook登录的用户会接受系统的权限请求。

Facebook Login Infogrpahic(from Facebook)

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Apple changing app store ranking: adding ratings, now updating every 3 hours

John Koetsier

Apple’s changing its app store ranking algorithm, according to a new report from Fiksu. Now ratings are joining sheer number of installs in the ranking factors — and it’s calculating updates every three hours.

“With these new algorithm changes to its App Store, Apple seems to be emphatically linking user ratings and app rankings,” Fiksu’s chief strategy officer Craig Palli said in a statement.

“For app marketers, delivering a positive app experience earning high app ratings from loyal users has never been more critical.”

Apps with ratings of four or more stars saw a boost in app store ranking starting in late July, Fiksu says, while poorly rated apps — 3 star average or below — dropped off “precipitously” and average apps with a 3.5 star rating dropped slightly.

RankGraph

This is a big deal for app developers and marketers, who have previously relied on massive numbers of downloads to hit the app store charts and good rankings in app store searches. Apple has been looking for ways to avoid gaming the app store charts for months, and it has yanked app discovery apps such as AppGratis off the store, claiming they violated Apple’s guidelines and skewed legitimate download numbers.

AppGratis had helped developers drive up to half a million downloads a day, but many other options exist. In fact, app marketing platform TradeMob says that $96,000 buys you a top-10 rating in the U.S. app store.

Perhaps not anymore.

“Download velocity is still the most important factor in determining rank,” Palli added. But, he said, “Delivering a positive app experience earning high app ratings from loyal users has never been more critical.”

One other change: Apple is now updating app store rankings every three hours. That’s down from every 15 minutes, and the effect is to minimize massive jumps in ad-fueled — or bot-fueled — downloads.

“We suspect they are adding a ‘buffer’ period to prevent rank manipulation through short download bursts often associated with robotic downloads,” Fiksu’s Tom Cummings wrote.

It’s too soon to tell if these are permanent changes, and Palli expects more app store ranking algorithm updates in the near future as iOS 7 is released. But clearly, buying a huge number of downloads via advertising and in-app cross promotion is no longer going to work as effectively as it once did.

Now quality is even more important than it once was. Which is exactly the lesson that perennial app store leaders like Kabam and Zynga have already learned long ago.（source：venturebeat）

2）Google Play and iOS App Store storm all over handheld consoles

by Phil Tottman

Mobile game revenue rose four times that of other gaming devices.

Spending on games via the iOS App Store leads the way in the first and second quarter of this year, double that of Google Play but even more so, than that of handheld consoles such as the Nintendo 3Ds and Sony’s PSP, reports App Annie.

The changes in smartphone marketshare, and consumer spending across mobile and handhelds is changing course rapidly.

In the first quarter, Google Play saw less income than its dedicated gaming platform rivals, however during the second quarter, spend on the latter dipped and Google saw its app store increase a considerable amount taking second place behind Apple’s App Store.

In related news, one of the biggest arcade game developers, Namco – creator of PacMan and Tekken – is even embracing mobile gaming with open arms as it opens an office in Vancouver, dedicated to the production of mobile and online games. Could this avenue of ‘traditional gaming’ be another victim of the app-ocalypse?

Back to the data at hand – there is still a long way to go for Google Play to catch up with the ultimate iOS app leaders, yet our trusty Gameboys and PSPs look to be heading for an early-ish retirement.

Is there anything they could do to regain the gamers attention? Only time – and an unforeseen complete global app store blackout – will tell!（source：mobile-ent）

3）Among mobile gamers, males are the whales, and women don’t pay to play

Dean Takahashi

Men are more likely than females to be the spenders in mobile games, according to a survey by EEDAR, a game research firm.

Men account for 66 percent of the whales, or big spenders who are in the top 5 percent of payers, in mobile games, according to the survey of 3,000 players on smartphones and tablets.

Women are 65 percent of those who don’t pay to play in mobile games, while men are just 35 percent. Whales play mobile games for an average of 11.8 hours a week, while the average “nonpayer” plays for 4.1 hours a week and the average payer plays for 4.9 hours a week. Whales spend about 24 percent of their waking time playing video games of any kind. Nonpayers are likely to play only on mobile devices and not on other game platforms.（source：venturebeat）

4）Disney sneaks two more games onto the Canadian App Store: Snow White, Alice in Wonderland

By Jim Squires

Surprises on the Canadian App Store have been few and far between lately, but if Disney keeps pre-releasing unannounced games at this rate, that’s a complaint we’ll have to put to rest. A few weeks ago we brought you news of a Ducktales team-based shooter, and today we’ve spotted two more free-to-play offerings from the House of Mouse.
Snow White: The Queen’s Return offers players a chance to rescue Snow White and her seven short friends from the evil Queen. We’ve only dabbled with it for a brief few moments, but so far, it seems safe to compare the experience to Disney’s earlier title, Ghosts of Mistwood.

Alice in Wonderland: A New Champion is a bit of a surprise. Instead of finding its roots in the 1951 animated classic, this game is based on the 2010 live-action feature by Tim Burton.

Thanks for laughing, but that wasn’t a joke.（source：gamezebo）

5）INFOGRAPHIC: Why app developers need Facebook

by Zen Terrelonge

People sign into apps via Facebook login 850m times each month.

We all know that mobile is now an established and key part of Facebook’s business – it recently opened a mobile games publishing division – and the company has released an infographic detailing how important its login solution is for app developers.

As Facebook puts it: “Facebook Login gives you a fast and easy way to sign in to your favourite apps. You can skip entering in long registration forms on mobile and the need to remember yet another username and password by logging in through Facebook with a few simple taps.”

Data shows that people sign into apps using Facebook login more than 850 million times a month, with 81 of the top 100 grossing iOS apps and 62 of the top 100 grossing Android apps in the US featuring Facebook login.（source：mobile-ent）