Apple reportedly has upwards of 100 employees working on making some big changes to its App Store, including allowing developers to pay for their apps to be more prominently displayed. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s “secret team” of engineers are also working to ensure the store is easier to browse and search.
Paid search isn’t unlike Google’s strategy, which gives developers the option for their apps—usually games—to appear higher in search results. As an example, developers can pay to have their apps more prominently displayed when a user searches for something like “card game” or “puzzles.” For Google, at least, this feature has made the company a boatload of money.
The initiative is reportedly being led by Apple Vice President Todd Teresi, who helmed Apple’s iAd program. Many engineers from iAd are said to be working on Apple’s journey toward a more lucrative App Store, according to Bloomberg.
The report didn’t specify when these changes will take effect, but with WWDC coming up in June, perhaps we’ll learn some details then.
