Quirk in App Store algorithm returns only Apple’s Podcasts app when searching for ‘podcasts’ in iTunes

An interesting thing is happening when you search for the term ‘podcasts’ or ‘podcast’ in Apple’s iTunes App Store. The results are limited to a single app: Apple’s own Podcasts app.

The quirk was noticed by iOS developer Shahruz Shaukat, and we verified it on several different machines and with several different people. The results set is only presenting itself this way in iTunes on the Mac. Results lists in iOS are showing all of the various podcasts apps, but with Apple’s app coming in at the top of the list.

I wouldn’t freak out on this one, as it’s likely a fluke that will get corrected soon enough. But we found it interesting enough to comment on. Since Apple purchased Chomp earlier this year, there has been evidence that it is tweaking App Store algorithms to try to surface more relevant and higher-quality apps. This may just be a result of that, but we’ll keep our eye on it to see if the results return to normal.

H/t Marco Arment