Rumours of the death of ASO have been greatly exaggerated. 

As you well know, if you’ve been following this blog or are even remotely familiar with app store optimization and the recent paid search ads announcement, people have been saying that ASO is on its way out, while others have scoffed at the notion.

The argument for sure won’t get old and will heat up even more. Others argue that while Paid search ads have its place, ASO is still a viable means of driving organic traffic to your app.
I guess we just have to wait and see for the full rollout, and from there, we can only know if 2016 will be the year that ASO is finally kicked to the curb.

Not so fast, though. I was the one who started ASO and have seen the major upheavals in ASO, both as a strategy and, for that matter, as a profession. As the app store search engines become ever more sophisticated, it’s harder to manipulate them, and the old ASO tricks just don’t work anymore. Moreover, the good old days of being a plain old ASO specialist could be pretty much gone, as you may have discerned by reading this.

To sum it all up, it’s going to be a whole new world out there. Yet ASO still matters.

Whether ASO is dead or alive depends on upon how you define it.
I think, the ASO tools will be greatly impacted with the paid search ads model that is being worked on by the App Stores. Why? For sure, Apple and Google will release their own insights or tools which will make other ASO tools less relevant. These app stores are strongly motivated by profit in that their new offering (paid search ads) is mainly centered around attracting their ad campaign customers.

The Value Of an External ASO Keyword Tools

There are so many ASO tools out there. Are they going to be obsolete? I don’t think so. These free or external options offer different kinds of features and functionalities that allow users to search and find results for actual keywords, as well as drill down on those ASO keywords in order to access long tail keywords and discover other app niches.

For sure, Google and Apple will offer research assistance, but keyword placement won’t be a thing of the past. ASO consultants who believe this erroneous idea are simply not going to reach the same levels of those who know better. These app stores have not changed its mind about app store optimization, they just merely decided to attach a price tag for those who wanted to take the shortcut.

Some have gone so far as to accuse Apple and Google of extortionist behavior — offering their customers to pay big bucks (not confirmed yet, but most likely) to get higher ASO rankings.

The fact remains, though, that their (Apple and Google) data are theirs to do with it what they please. Their loyalties have never extended to app developers, but to big time players or paying ad customers, instead. Regardless of the negative reaction, some app marketers seem to have towards the upcoming changes, it is time to play rough & adapt or just fall behind. For me, external keyword tools are here to stay, though they will be affected (because for sure Google and Apple will provide their own insights or ASO tools for their paying ad customers), they still offer strong solutions to those who do not favor the latter.

Consider, also the fact that we search for information or apps in a variety of other ways, such as by voice search on mobile devices. With other search methods being used, these app stores’ keyword data might not offer a complete picture in all instances.

Moving forward, there is no guarantee that Apple or Google’s search engine will always dominate on the World Wide Web.
Taking all of this into consideration, investing in an external ASO keyword tool is still a good move. Especially if an ASO tool (like Mobileaction) covers the most important bases and offers additional key features. 

In fact, it can still be the best option