Football Scores Top Spot in App Search Queries for January

Chomp Monthly App Search Report Also Shows a Decrease in the Games Category on Both Android and iOS

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chomp, the leading app search engine, today released its monthly app search data reflecting the most significant consumer search trends for Android and Apple iOS apps during the month of January. Chomp’s most recent report shows that mobile device users queried “Football” the most in January. Traffic for the query was elevated throughout the month and spiked around major game days, including Wild Card Weekend, Division Playoffs, and Conference Championships.

This month’s report also shows that the games category decreased its share for the second consecutive month on Android while utilities increased. Social networking and music both increased by at least 0.5%, while travel and lifestyle apps decreased by the same amount. On iOS, games decreased its share by 3.5%. Utilities, productivity and social networking apps saw their shares increase by at least 1%, while education apps decreased their share by 1%.

Paid app downloads in January on Android showed no change and stayed at 3%, while paid iOS app downloads decreased to 23%, down from a high of 30% in December. The decrease was concentrated at the $.99 price point, which dropped from 17.8% to 11.4%. The $1.99 price point also fell by 1.8%.

“Free” was again the top search term across all countries sampled on Android, with the top apps of the month including such classics such as Pandora, WhatsApp Messenger, Movies, and Adobe Flash Player 10.3. The top five Android apps were Pandora, Lookout Mobile Security, GO Launcher EX, Zedge Ringtones, and MP3 Music Download Pro.

App search abroad showed more diversity on iOS, with social networking and chat apps dominating the top apps internationally. The top iOS apps for January were Words With Friends Free, VEVO, Temple Run, Facebook, and Instagram.

Over two billion apps are being downloaded each month and the number of available Android and iOS apps has surged to almost one million. As the number of apps increase, so does the need for effective app search. On the Android platform, 86% of searches were made by app function (e.g. “adventure games,” “books,” etc.) and only 14% by the actual app name. On the iOS platform, 81% of searches were made by app function and only 19% by the app name.

About Chomp, Inc.

Founded in 2009 by Ben Keighran and Cathy Edwards, Chomp, Inc. is the only company to enable app search based on what an app actually does. Two billion apps are being downloaded every month. As the number of apps explodes, it’s become difficult for users to find the perfect app for what they want to do. Chomp’s patent-pending algorithm is able to understand what an app does and what a user wants and then makes the best match. Chomp also allows developers to effectively integrate app search into their content. Chomp powers search for a range of companies, including Verizon, Carphone Warehouse, Blekko, 148Apps.com and @aplusk. The company is funded by leading Silicon Valley investors, including Ron Conway, BlueRun Ventures as well as a number of ex-Google angel investors. The company is based in San Francisco, CA and can be found at www.chomp.com