What should you do if your APP is removed from Apple?

Apple has four methods of punishment: demotion, ranking clearance , word clearance, and removal from the shelves. Removal from the shelves is the most tragic result, the last resort.

Now, doing ASO optimization in the Apple market means making a living by following the mood of Apple, but Apple's mood is like that of a three-year-old kid. It changes at any time and cries at any time. It is unpredictable. In any case, Asoer is going to be unemployed.

As we all know, Apple has four punishment methods: demotion, ranking clearing, word clearing, and removal from the shelves. Removal from the shelves is nothing but the most tragic result, the last resort.

Demotion means nothing more than a sharp drop in keyword rankings , and optimization through point walls / machine brushing will have no effect. If it is not a brand word, the demotion will only mean a sharp drop in the search volume of non-brand words within a certain period of time, and the impact is within the controllable range. Of course, if your brand name is also downgraded, encourage yourself, at least you can appeal to Apple.

Clear the list (except for games ). In the period when the list is weakening, if your product is not in the top three of the free list, it is actually no big deal. After all, the top three are displayed on the first screen, and the top 4 are all on the secondary pages. Generally speaking, even if your product is in the top three of the category list, the magnitude will not be greatly affected. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the list is unimportant, it’s just that the magnitude of its impact is a bit small at the moment.

Clearing words. The reasons for clearing words are mostly caused by machine brushing or point wall operation. In fact, there is not much difference between clearing words and devaluing. The former has no coverage at all, and the latter is ranked outside the top 300, resulting in no search traffic at all. If I have to point out a difference, it is only the case of demotion. Keyword optimization has one more hope, at least the words are still covered. One day when dad is happy, he can happily optimize the points wall or play with machine brushing again.

If your brand words are cleared, no matter what the reason, you must insist on saying hello to your father every now and then. You must firmly believe that persistence is victory. Don't stop sending emails or giving up on the phone. Use your perseverance to influence your father, and maybe he will be released from the dark room ahead of time.

I have come across many CPs, and one of them is a very suicidal CP, where the words are suddenly restored and then a wave of points wall is rushed up. If you don't seek death, you won't die, but there is a high probability that you will be locked up in the dark room again.

Take it off the shelves. There are three thousand beauties in the harem, but you are the only one favored by the emperor. You should be "grateful and shed tears". There are many reasons for removal from the shelves, such as qualification issues, vest package issues, payment issues, copyright issues, etc.

If you can explain the reason for the removal to Apple in a coherent way, don't be afraid, just confront Apple directly, either by phone or email. If there is such a problem, just admit it, update a version, reply to the email and promise to be a good person, speak nicely, and you will be a good man again after the version is put on the shelves.

I divide the influence of these four factors as follows: removal from the shelves > clearing of words ≥ demotion > clearing of the rankings; generally speaking, being punished means being subjected to a double attack of physical and magical attacks, and clearing of rankings and words is often accompanied by demotion of rights.

This has gone a bit off topic. Today we are going to talk about the issue of taking products off the shelves. If your APP is removed from the shelves, don't panic. Even if there is a problem, you cannot show it. It will not solve the problem of getting your APP on the shelves. You must act calm and everything is under control. Give your boss confidence that I have a solution. Then quickly find someone in the industry or read an article on a public account (such as this one), sort out the solution, explain the methods and risks to your boss or senior manager, let them make a quick decision, grab priority resources, and call on company resources to solve the problem for you.

Let’s take a step back and say that your APP is really removed from the shelves, what should we do? I will just talk about the following casually, after all, I am only a newcomer in the industry for more than 30 months.

1. Impact of APP removal

1. Brand influence

①If there is no new package to replace it, the user will have download problems

② If a new package is used, is the brand word ranked top 1 when users search for it?

2. Impact of external downloads

① Influence of H5 page or download channel

② Impact of Apple ID binding activities

3. Impact of completing your own KPI

2. How to deal with APP removal? It can be handled one by one according to the impact issues

1. Brand influence

①If there is no new package to replace

Ⅰ Customer service should formulate a good script to deal with the problem that the product cannot be found. They can provide an H5 page for users to register or directly ask for users' consent to obtain user information. If the product is put on the shelves normally, they can use SMS to inform users and remind them to download;

II. Delisting: File an appeal based on the email information of the delisted product. For example, if there is a qualification issue, provide an explanation of the qualification. If there is a payment issue, exclude it and firmly say that there is no problem and let the father investigate. If there is a copyright issue, remove the relevant content, find the copyright owner to issue authorization or reach an agreement with Apple, and let the copyright owner file a complaint, etc.

Ⅲ If the reason for removal cannot be handled, immediately mobilize company resources to develop a new package, whether it is a shell or a qualified account to put it on the shelves, put it on the shelves first to buy more time to deal with the problem from the source.

② There is a package replacement

Ⅰ For the vest package with the same application name and logo, is the brand word top1? If not, arrange the point wall optimization in small quantities and multiple times, and strive to optimize the brand word to the top1 safely and stably. Don't be like a fool and rush up in a wave. It will be a tragedy if the word is cleared. For some products that have community users, you need to guide them to search for brand words on QQ groups or WeChat groups to download the latest packages, saving even the money for the points wall. I am as smart as I am.

Ⅱ For the vest package with different application name, we should be low-key and use the points wall to arrange optimization in small quantities and multiple times to grab the top 1 of brand words. If there are many packages, be prepared for both situations: optimize some of the points walls and directly brush up some of them. The most important thing is to save time and don't consider the cost for the time being.

2. Impact of external downloads

① If there is a package replacement, directly change the download link. If not, stop sending to the Apple end;

② New activities involving AppleID binding were changed immediately without stopping

3. Influenced by your own KPI, expand other channels, otherwise!

In fact, it is a very passive thing to deal with it after you find out that it has been removed from the shelves. If you had no idea before, you will have an idea now after reading the article; if you have always had an idea, you remember it now. Secondly, if your industry is a high-risk industry, you should convince your boss to launch a new package. It can not only serve as a preventive backup, but also provide a new source of traffic.

There are currently two preventive measures in the industry:

1. Under different accounts, the products will not be put on the shelves after being reviewed.

2. Submit for review and release under different accounts

The corresponding optimization strategies and risks are different:

The advantage of the former is that Apple will not be punished and removed from the shelves because of the 4.3 issue being associated with the existing package. The disadvantage is that the brand traffic moat cannot be built, and the top three cannot be all self-owned products. In addition, if the main package is removed from the shelves, it will take time for the new package to optimize the brand word to the first place, so there is a time lag.

The advantage of the latter is that it forms a moat of brand traffic. The top two or three are all your own products. The traffic of other products will become smaller if they use your brand traffic. We will become better if others have less traffic. The disadvantage is that we may be eliminated completely because of the 4.3 problem.

A compromise processing model is used in high-risk industries such as live streaming , lending, and financial management . Under different accounts, for the UI design of the same or different products, some junk code can be filled in to avoid the 4.3 problem, so that your product will have two or three more packages in the Apple market as a backup.

You have to understand that if you are in a high-risk industry, you must not go all the way with one product, or you will end up with a swollen face. You know why.

The author of this article @TD Operation Notes was compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games