Competitor analysis on Google Play: what to copy and what not

Competitors are the cheapest research you have. They also mislead if you copy the wrong things.

Choose comparable competitors

Track two or three apps of similar size and the same intent, not the category leader. The leader ranks on weight you do not have; a peer ranks on listing choices you can make today. Pick them from the top results of your own head terms.

What to take from their keywords

The terms a peer ranks in the top 10 for are proven. The terms where they sit at 11 to 30 are where a better listing wins. Extract the one-to-three-word terms from their title and descriptions in the listing's language; the ones that also describe your app go into your pool.

Watch changes, not snapshots

A competitor's title change followed by a rank move two weeks later tells you what Play rewarded. Read their release notes: a feature they shipped is a keyword they will target next. Icon and screenshot changes date their conversion experiments.

What not to copy

Their brand terms, obviously. Their keyword stuffing, if any: it violates Play policy and ranks worse over time. Their long description structure if it reads like a list of terms; write yours for a person. And their whole pool: relevance is per app, and a term that converts for them may not for you.