ASO Glossary
In-App Event (IAE) Keyword Indexing
Core Definition
Timely events within an app (e.g. game competitions, live streams, seasonal challenges) that can be indexed and featured directly in App Store search results.
In-App Events appear as rich cards directly in App Store search feeds for up to 30 days before and during the event.
The Event Name (30 characters) and Event Short Description (50 characters) are indexed for search queries, allowing apps to temporarily rank for seasonal or topic-specific keywords.
Running continuous In-App Events provides an additional mechanism to capture search real estate without changing core app version metadata.
Frequently asked questions
- Can In-App Events appear in search results for users who don't have the app installed?
- Yes. In-App Events are visible to both new and existing users, providing a download CTA for new users and an open/update CTA for existing users.
Related terms
- App Store Metadata FieldsApp Store metadata fields are the text inputs that affect how an app is discovered and presented in the App Store — primarily the name, subtitle, keyword field, and developer name, each with different character limits and ranking weight.
- App Store Search Ranking FactorsApp Store search ranking factors are the signals Apple's algorithm uses to determine which apps appear at the top of results for a given keyword — primarily metadata relevance, user engagement, and app quality indicators.
- Keyword Indexing TimeKeyword indexing time is the delay between submitting a metadata update and Apple's search index reflecting the new title, subtitle, or keyword field.
- App Store Optimization (ASO)App Store Optimization is the process of improving an app's visibility in App Store search results and its conversion rate from search impressions to installs.
- Keyword PopularityKeyword popularity is a 0–100 score measuring how often users search for a given term in the App Store, derived from Apple Search Ads demand signals.
- Keyword DifficultyKeyword difficulty is a 0–100 score estimating how hard it is to break into the top-ranking positions for a given App Store keyword, based on the strength of apps currently holding those positions.
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Put this into practice
Score App Store keywords by popularity and difficulty across 109 storefronts — the numbers behind in-app event (iae) keyword indexing.
Start keyword research