Store Ranks are factual data points which Apptopia collects directly from Apple & Google. Each of these stores are producing ranks for top apps in every category / country combination. Each store has their own special sauce / algorithm, which they use to produce these ranks, but the rank values themselves that we are providing, are facts (i.e. we showcase exactly what the app stores publish each day). Please note that all rank is taking into account both volume and velocity, so you can climb up the charts by having the most downloads and revenue as well as by having an extremely fast growth rate over a short / recent period of time. Each store has a limit to the # of apps they rank in each category / country combination. For the iOS App Store = ~500 and for Google Play = ~200. This is a store imposed limit and not specific to Apptopia. There are 3 “types” of rank (free, paid, & grossing), which are defined individually below:
“Free” Rank
Free rank is rank based on the volume of free downloads. So apps which get the largest volume of free downloads will rank the highest here. Only free apps can be ranked here.
“Paid” Rank
Paid rank is rank based on the volume of paid app downloads. So paid apps which get the largest volume of downloads will rank the highest here. Only paid apps can be ranked here, and as such its impossible for an app to have both a Free & Paid rank. Please also note that it does not matter if your Paid app is $1 or $25, this rank is based on volume of downloads, not the value of the download.
“Grossing” Rank
Grossing rank is based on the total revenue an app is earning. For the sake of Grossing rank, total revenue is only including In-App Purchase Revenue + Paid App Download Revenue. Ad revenue is not factored into Grossing rank, as the app stores do not see this revenue.
Grossing rank is different than Free & Paid rank, as it does not look at the volume, but rather the total value. This means that an app who sells 1,000 in app purchases at $100 a piece (i.e. $100,000 in revenue) will have a higher grossing rank than an app which sells 50,000 in app purchases at $1 (i.e. $50,000 in revenue)
Apps can, and often do, have both a Free & Grossing or a Paid & Grossing rank. Understanding the relationship between these 2 ranks is really valuable as you can get a feel for the top and middle of theuser life cycle.