How ranking works

Short version: there are two separate lists on this page. One is a ranking of apps by their review data, and no amount of money can move a position in it. The other is a block of paid advertising slots above it, labelled as such, showing the exact amount paid in dollars.

The two lists, and why they are separate

1. 1. The ranking. Ordered by review volume weighted by average rating, taken from public App Store listings. Weighting matters: an app with a 4.9 average across 4,000 reviews ranks above one with a perfect 5.0 across three, because three reviews is not evidence. Payment does not enter this list at any point. Position #1 is #1 on the data, whether anyone has paid us or not.
   One honest limitation: review counts partly reflect how hard a vendor asks its merchants for reviews, not only how good or how widely installed the app is. Shopify publishes no install counts, so nobody – including us – can correct for that. It is the fairest public signal available, not a perfect one.
2. 2. Paid placements. A separate, labelled block of advertising slots that sits above the ranking. Slots are ordered among themselves by amount paid, and each row carries that amount in dollars. Buying a slot puts a vendor in the advertising block – it does not give them a rank, it does not change their rating, review count or install count, and it does not move or remove anyone in the ranking below.

What paying does not buy

• Not a position in the ranking. The ranking is untouchable with money.
• Not a recommendation, an endorsement, or a quality check by us.
• Not a change to any number on the listing. The data is the data.
• Not the removal or demotion of a competitor.
• Not a search-engine backlink – every link a payment touches is nofollow sponsored. The one followed link here is earned by the free claim, and any payment switches it off.

A row marked Claimed means the vendor verified they own the listing. Claiming is free. It highlights the row – the same gold a paid card carries – and moves nothing: the row keeps the exact place its review data gives it, and no amount is involved. Our own apps carry the same mark, beside From the operator.

Want to see the money?

Every paid row carries its amount in dollars, right on the board. Totals, click counts and cost per click for every listing are on the Stats page. Nothing is hidden from anyone who wants the number.

Who runs this, and the obvious conflict

TouchPoints Inc., which also builds apps for Shopify merchants. Our own apps are labelled From the operator and cannot be bid on – the checkout refuses payment on them, so no money of ours has ever moved a position on this site. They sit wherever their review data puts them, and a competitor who bids goes above them. Full detail on the About page.

Something looks wrong

Wrong category, stale description, an app that should not be listed – write to k@ecomapps.store and we fix it, paid or not. The Rules page has the full detail, and For app makers is the same thing written for the people who build these apps.