Google+ Now The Top Free App In The Apple App Store
After less than 24 hours of being live, the Google+ iPhone app has hit the number one free spot in the Apple app store, beating out “Draw ‘n’ Go: Awesomeness!” for the top slot. — This is quite impressive considering that the app …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google has moved its social push onto the iPhone itself: the Google+ iPhone app went live and took the number one free slot in Apple's App Store within a day, unseating the game Draw 'n' Go: Awesomeness!. The speed of the climb is the story — an invite-driven network converting curiosity into chart-topping downloads before any marketing cycle could kick in.
The story travelled fast enough that CNN framed it around the chairman's own admission that Google should have entered social earlier, turning a chart statistic into a referendum on the company's late start against incumbent networks. That a Google product now sits atop Apple's storefront also puts the two platform rivals in direct competition on iOS turf.
First-order effects
- Google gets its highest-visibility distribution point yet for Google+, with the number one free slot acting as free discovery inside Apple's store while invitations still gate sign-ups.
- Draw 'n' Go: Awesomeness! loses the top free spot, illustrating how quickly a major company's app launch can reset a chart usually led by games.
Second-order effects
- Apple now hosts its rival's flagship social product at the very top of its own storefront, sharpening the question of how much reach each company grants the other on its platform.
- Other developers competing for the free-chart spotlight face a launch pattern where an incumbent giant can claim the number one position in under 24 hours on brand pull alone.
Third-order effects
- If big-platform launches routinely dominate the charts this fast, app-store rankings become a measure of platform rivalry rather than independent developer merit, raising the stakes of any future friction between Apple and Google over iOS distribution.
The trend: App-store charts are becoming a front line in the Apple–Google rivalry, where a major player's launch can take the number one free slot within hours of release.