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BlackBerry World 4.3 changes for Developers

Rapid John·
DevelopersBlackBerry
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BlackBerry World 4.3 changes the BlackBerry World search algorithm to help make the discovery of your app or game easier for customers.

To take advantage of these changes,  the following product attributes are prioritised to determine search results.

The attributes are listed in order of importance to the algorithm:

  1. Product Name
  2. Keywords
  3. Vendor Name
  4. Short Description

It is important to note that the Long Description is no longer considered by the Search algorithm.

Product Name

The most important product attribute is the Product Name – the title of your application shown to the Consumer. Product Names can be specified by Platform and Language.

This could allow you to have:

  • ‘Awesome App” for BlackBerry 10
  • “Awesome App HD” for BlackBerry PlayBook

Keywords

Keywords are the second most important attribute in determining search results and provide new flexibility and creativity to get your product noticed. Keywords will now be used to determine search results. Keywords can be specified by Platform and Language.

Changing the Keywords from the Vendor Portal takes effect between one and nine hours after saving the changes.

  • Number of Keywords.  There are up to ten (10) Keywords per Platform and Language pairing.
    • For example, the BBOS Platform for French has up to 10 Keywords and the BBOS Platform for English has up to 10 keywords
  • Maximum Length of a Keyword: Each Keyword cannot be more than 100 characters or 3 words long.
    • For example, “Built For BlackBerry”
  • Maximum Length of ALL Keywords for a Platform/Language Pair: There is a 1,000 character maximum length for all the Keywords per Platform and Language pair.
    • For example, the BBOS Platform for French has a 1,000 character maximum and the BBOS Platform for English has a 1,000 character limit.
  • Term Frequency within Keywords – the number of times a term appears in the keywords increases the relevance.
    • For example, having “Black” 5 times within the Keywords gives more relevance than having “Black” only once.
  • Term Proximity – for multiple search terms, say A and B, the keyword where A is closer to B has higher relevance over keywords where A is further from B. For example:
    • Given:
      • App #1 with Keyword = Built for BlackBerry
      • App #2 with Keyword = Built for the BlackBerry
      • Consumer search = “Built BlackBerry”
  • Then Search Results:
    • App #1
    • App #2
  • WHY? The number of characters between Built and BlackBerry is less in App #1’s keyword than in App #2’s.
  • Relevance – the keywords must be relevant to the product
    • Keywords cannot be competitive products or other product names.
    • Keywords cannot be popular terms for the sake of receiving a high hit rate.

Vendor Name

The third most important attribute is Vendor Name.

Short Description

The least important attribute is Short Description. It is also available by Platform and Language pairing.[signoff predefined=”Enjoy this?” icon=”icon-users”][/signoffVia