# App Store and Google Play keyword search volume

URL: https://storelift.net/guide/app-store-keyword-search-volume/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-09-23

Neither Apple nor Google publishes how many times a keyword is searched in the App Store or on Google Play. The closest official signal is Apple Ads Search Popularity, a relative 5–100 score that exists only in Apple Ads countries. Any monthly "search volume" figure for a store keyword is an estimate, not a store number.

## Does the App Store publish keyword search volume?

No. App Store Connect shows your own app's impressions, product page views and downloads, broken down by source such as App Store search, but it does not show how often a term is searched across the store. Google Play Console likewise reports your own listing's traffic, not the market's demand for a term.

| Signal | Store | What it is | What it is not |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Apple Ads Search Popularity | App Store | Relative score 5–100, per country, only where Apple Ads runs | A search count |
| Autocomplete suggestions | Both stores | Whether a term is typed at all, in each storefront | A ranking of big terms |
| Your own analytics | Both stores | Impressions and installs your listing received | Demand for terms you don't rank for |
| Google Ads Keyword Planner | Google web search | Web search volume estimates | Play store searches |

## Apple Ads Search Popularity: the one official number

Inside Apple Ads, keywords carry a search popularity score from 5 to 100, with 5 as the floor. It is relative, not a volume: a 60 is more popular than a 30, but neither is a number of searches.

- Coverage. Apple Ads runs in 91 countries and regions; the App Store runs in 175. In the other 84 there is no official popularity at all.
- The autumn-2025 cut. Between 29 September and 3 October 2025 the number of US terms scoring above the floor of 5 fell from 165,875 to 39,254 (−77.4%). Since October 2025 only terms above that threshold get a score, which removes most long-tail terms small apps compete on.
- Search Term Rank. At the same time Apple added a monthly Search Term Rank report (beta) in Apple Ads Insights.

The full history and what replaced the old score are on Apple Search Ads keyword popularity.

## Google Play keyword search volume

Google Play has no equivalent of Apple's popularity score. Play Console has no keyword field and no search volume report for terms across the store.

Google Ads Keyword Planner is often suggested as a "Google Play keyword planner". It estimates searches on Google web search. People searching Google for "budget app" and people typing it in the Play Store are different populations, so Planner numbers can show a topic has interest but cannot be read as Play search volume.

## Where tools' "search volume" numbers come from

Since neither store publishes a count, a monthly volume shown for a store keyword is produced by a model: typically popularity scores, autocomplete order, rank and download estimates combined and mapped to a number. That can be useful for ordering terms, but it inherits every input's gaps — and after the autumn-2025 change, Apple's popularity input is missing for most long-tail terms and for every non-Apple Ads country.

NOTE: A practical test for any volume figure: ask what it is when Apple's popularity is 5 or absent. If the tool still prints a precise monthly count for such a term, that number was produced by the model, not read from the store.

## What to use instead of search volume

1. Check presence with autocomplete in the target storefront — the autocomplete demand signal. It works in every storefront, including those without Apple Ads.
2. Where Apple Ads runs, use popularity as a relative tie-breaker between terms that both pass the presence test.
3. Weigh difficulty separately — the top-10 wall, in keyword difficulty, with the formula printed. Volume without difficulty points small apps at terms they can't win.
4. After release, read your own search impressions in App Store Connect and your rank per term: that is demand you actually received.

How far autocomplete and Apple popularity agree was measured on 1,000 popular terms in five storefronts: ρ = 0.30, weak to moderate — see autocomplete demand vs search popularity. Storelift shows demand from autocomplete as presence and breadth and prints no volume number, because the stores do not publish one.

## FAQ

Q: How can I see App Store keyword search volume for free?
A: You can't see a real count anywhere — Apple doesn't publish one. Free signals are App Store autocomplete (is the term typed at all) and, if you have an Apple Ads account in a supported country, the 5–100 search popularity score.

Q: What is the search volume on the Play Store?
A: Google does not publish search volume for Play Store keywords. Play Console reports only your own listing's traffic, and Google Ads Keyword Planner measures Google web search, not Play.

Q: Is Apple's search popularity the same as search volume?
A: No. It is a relative score from 5 to 100, available only in the 91 Apple Ads countries and regions. Since October 2025 terms below the threshold get no score.

Q: Can I use Google Keyword Planner for App Store keywords?
A: Only as a hint that a topic has interest. Its numbers are Google web searches; App Store and Play searches are separate systems with their own queries.

Q: Why does each ASO tool show a different search volume?
A: Because each one models it differently from inputs the stores do publish. None of them reads a volume from Apple or Google, so the numbers are not expected to match.