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, we wanted to share with you how the following product attributes are prioritized 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. Introduced to the BlackBerry World Vendor Portal in 2012, 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”

• 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.

Head over to BlackBerry World Vendor Portal and update your app today!

Over the last few months, we’ve been able to share more and more about our new mobile computing platform – BlackBerry 10. Starting with the kick-off at BlackBerry 10 Jam in Orlando this past May and leading up to this week’s BlackBerry Jam Asia in Bangkok, developers from around the globe have been hard at work creating amazing apps and games for BlackBerry 10.

Apps and games are extremely important (and let’s be honest, a fun way to occupy yourself while you’re waiting in line at the airport) – but sometimes you want to just put on your headphones and listen to your favorite album or catch up on an episode of a must-watch TV show.

While developers have been building apps, other teams at RIM have been meeting with content partners, music labels, networks, and studios to make sure we have an amazing catalog of music and video in one storefront with one login on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone. We’ll have more on that as we get closer to launch, including details on country availability for this additional content – but there is some news I can share with you today.

In the beta OS build that BlackBerry developers are receiving today, there’s an updated icon for your local neighborhood app storefront. Starting today – we’d like to say good bye to BlackBerry App World and introduce you to the BlackBerry World storefront.

What does this mean for developers?

• We’ll be releasing updated marketing graphics for developers to use on their websites and other marketing materials
• We’ll be rolling out the name change to all store fronts starting mid-January 2013
  • BlackBerry PlayBook tablet customers will see the updated store name in a future build, but video and music content will still be only available via the separate Music Store and Video Store applications on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
  • Customers on BlackBerry OS smartphones (OS 5, 6, 7 and 7.1) will also see the updated name and continue to benefit from new titles as they are developed for the BlackBerry OS platform, however the video and music content will not be available.
  • The BlackBerry App World web store will become the BlackBerry World web store before the launch event on January 30, 2013
• Deep link URLs are not changing – the same appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/[appid] URLs that you use today will continue to work

I personally can’t wait to share our music and video plans with you – and we’ll have more on this in January!

With the upcoming launch of BlackBerry® 10, we’ve got a few new features on their way and we want you to be prepared for them.

We understand that the success of your app is based on marketing properly to as many customers as possible. With this in mind, we’ll be introducing a new Improved Relevance Marketing Meta-Data feature set.

So what does this mean for you? Well, a lot. When we launch this new feature set, you’ll be able to upload multiple sets of meta-data (this includes screenshots and descriptions) that will be platform and language-specific. That’s right — no need to spread your applications across multiple product SKUs.

For example, if you want to deploy an app supporting BlackBerry® OS, BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets and BlackBerry 10, you can do it all under a single application submission instead of three – all the while maintaining distinctive descriptions and screenshots for each platform.

What’s the benefit to you? Less SKUs in the store to manage – a single app supplies the binaries and meta-data for every platform you support. What’s the benefit to end-users? When they upgrade their BlackBerry smartphone to BlackBerry 10 or buy a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, their apps can quickly and easily be reinstalled via My World. This also means that you keep your customer base when your users change platforms. Additionally, the user will see meta-data (description, screenshots, etc) that is optimized for his/her device platform.

Some updates to the BlackBerry App World™ storefront search will be made to further improve app discoverability. In January 2013, it will be updated to include searching on the following fields:

• Title
• Keywords
• Vendor Name
• Short Description

Long description will no longer be indexed for search.

Below you’ll find all the details currently available and how they compare to what will be available when these features launch shortly.

So, there you have it! Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think.

As Alec said in his post last week, we’re committed to working with you to build the best mobile platform ecosystem. Part of that effort is making sure we have the team in place to help our developers build amazing apps for BlackBerry. Recently we posted about positions we’re hiring for on the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ R&D team. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg – there are a ton of great opportunities on the BlackBerry® Developer Relations team! (And for some roles, you don’t even have to be able to cleverly code comic book character related statements.)

In Developer Relations, we don’t have “customers” — we have the BlackBerry developer community. Smart, passionate, creative folks who build everything from utilities to games that make the BlackBerry experience great. We’re making developing for BlackBerry the most seamless, rewarding, and lucrative experience there is.

From code to communities, Waterloo to Beijing, we’re looking for people to help us provide the BlackBerry developer community with the best possible experience, beginning well before they even start on the “Hello World” sample. We’re looking for people all over the world, so check out the list below and see which role piques your interest. Or if you know someone else who’d be a perfect fit, share like the wind!

Evangelism

Are you at your best when you’re out and about, meeting people, spreading the word and sharing the love? Sounds like you’re already an evangelist. Testify!

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (Toronto)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (France)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (Poland)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (China)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (Dubai)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (India)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (India)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (India)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (India)

BlackBerry Developer Evangelist (South Korea)

Technical Platform Experts

Is your brain chock full of handy technical tidbits about SDKs, HTML5, Java® and other platform goodness? Can you teach geeky topics in your sleep? Sounds like you’d be a great platform expert.

Application Development Consultant (Waterloo/Mississauga)

Application Development Consultant (Waterloo/Mississauga)

Application Development Consultant (Waterloo/Mississauga)

Application Development Consultant (Waterloo/Mississauga)

Application Development Consultant – Web (Waterloo/Mississauga)

Application Development Consultant (LATAM)

Application Development Consultant (LATAM)

Web Properties Development

Putting your code skills to work building the kind of websites you as a dev would love to use. Sound more like play than work? Web devs, this way:

Web Developer (Waterloo)

Web Developer (Waterloo)

Web Project Manager (Waterloo)

Project Management

Are you the organizer, the fixer, the person who gets things done? We’d love to have your project management skills on board.

Project Manager (Singapore)

Web Project Manager (Waterloo)

Project Manager, Developer Relations (Waterloo)

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Developer Relations (Waterloo)

Marketing

Are you a great host, love to connect people, and have a knack for adding polish and just the right touches to any project? Dive in on our Marketing team.

Marketing Coordinator (Jakarta)

Marketing Coordinator (Beijing/Shanghai)

Community Manager, Developer Relations (Waterloo)

Marketing Manager (Waterloo/Mountain View)

Marketing Coordinator – Developer Relations & Eco Systems (Indonesia)

Back in my previous role as Product Manager for the BlackBerry App World™ storefront, I had the privilege of working with Ronjon Nag, VP of BlackBerry App World. Ronjon has been around the mobile world for a long time. He’s been featured on the cover of Fortune and involved in the development of apps, user interfaces and new m-commerce distribution methods of mobile applications and devices. All of this work culminated in the founding of Cellmania, which was acquired by Research In Motion® (RIM®) in 2010. But he’s not all suits and business meetings – he’s also my go-to guy around the RIM campus for marketing insights about apps.

Ronjon has put together his top tips, based on his experiences, for making more money from your apps on BlackBerry App World– and we’re happy to share them with you today.

Optimize Your App

• Your App Name Is Key
  • Have fun with your app name, but keep it simple and immediately recognizable.
  • Give your app a relevant name to boost discoverability and make it memorable to help your app go viral through marketing and social media channels.
  • Remember to include your app name and a few keywords in your description to increase search result placement.

Best Ways To Make Money

• Optimize Your Price
  • Pricing and value associated with apps differs throughout the world.
  • Be aware of these sensitivities and price your apps accordingly; i.e. in the US, customers might pay $5 for a one-off app purchase, but in developing economies you’ll want to charge much less or use a different payment model.

• Optimize Payment Type
  • In-App Billing, Try & Buy and Subscriptions are the best ways to increase discovery and increase revenue. Learn more about Payment Service.

• Ads Can Make You Money
  • Advertising Service can simplify your path to in-app ad revenue. It takes care of the commercial and technical requirements so you can focus on what you do best: building fantastic apps. Learn more about Advertising Service.

• Analyze Your Performance and Adjust To The Market
  • Analytics Service is a FREE analytics service powered by Webtrends. It helps you improve your end user experience, optimize your app and know – not guess – where to invest your resources to increase your ROI. Learn more about Analytics Service.

• Respond To Negative Feedback
  • If you feel any of the reviews of your app are unwarranted or inaccurate, you can apply to ask RIM to have the review removed by going into the BlackBerry App World vendor portal, flagging the particular review for removal and outline your reasons for doing so. For more information, please refer to the BlackBerry App World administration guide.

Social Media and Cross Promotion

• Get Tweeting
  • Take advantage of social media channels including Twitter® – they’re free and a brilliant way of spreading the word.
  • Follow relevant people and encourage your own followers – build a community and expand the viral spread of your app.
  • Use tools such as TweetDeck to help find your audience, and mention others in your tweets to encourage reciprocation and wider promotion.
  • When you tweet, deep link straight through to your app on BlackBerry App World.
  • Note: Ensure that whenever you use Twitter to promote your app, you follow their applicable terms and conditions of use

• Create a Facebook® Page
  • Build a social community around your app by creating a Facebook page.
  • Include links to your app, screenshots and useful information.
  • Get your users interacting and commenting to spread the word – it’s also a useful channel to gain direct feedback from your users for future app optimization.
  • Note: Ensure that whenever you use Facebook to spread the word about your app, you follow their applicable terms and conditions of use

• Get Users to Your App Quickly and Easily
  • Use the BlackBerry App World logo on your own webpages and ads to drive users to where they can find your app. The logo is instantly recognizable and trusted, directing users straight into the store to find your app.
  • Note: Ensure that you follow the BlackBerry App World naming and logo guidelines.

• Cross-Promote
  • Take advantage of any cross-promotion activities, especially if you have more than one app.
  • Link from each of your apps to the others for increased awareness.

BlackBerry App World Promotion Opportunities

There are many opportunities for promoting great apps or content items on the BlackBerry App World storefront. All you need to do is submit a proposal including specifics on why your app is great, what you are doing to promote your app, and which countries and device models should be targeted in the promotional campaign. Submit your proposal today to BlackBerryAppWorldMarketing@rim.com.

Please verify you have provided the following assets and information so your app is ready to be featured if/when the time comes:

• Feature Image for your app (1920×1186.PNG) is uploaded on the BlackBerry App World vendor portal.
• Feature Description (50 characters max) of your app is uploaded on the BlackBerry App World vendor portal in every language your app supports (e.g. if your app supports EFIGS languages, please provide feature descriptions in all 5 languages)
• Illustrate that you are using the “Get it At BlackBerry App World” logo on your Web properties and linking it back to your app on BlackBerry App World – if you require this logo, or logos in other languages, please contact BlackBerryAppWorldMarketing@rim.com.

If you have other tips, we’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

[YouTube link for mobile viewing]

Did you know that Research In Motion® (RIM®) has a program designed just for developers that offers technical, marketing and business development support? It’s called the BlackBerry® Alliance Program and if you’re a BlackBerry developer, it’s worth your time to join. There are many benefits available to you as a member, which will vary depending on your level of membership.

The BlackBerry Alliance Program is a multi-tiered program that gives members access to both free and paid resources and benefits, depending on their membership level, such as access to industry-leading resources in application development, marketing and training. These resources can assist BlackBerry developers to expand business opportunities, build revenue and increase sales.

Some of the most popular benefits of full membership include, from a marketing and sales benefit standpoint: a RIM Business Development Manager assigned specifically to you, assistance in developing a business plan, opportunities for co-operative marketing activities, and much more. Smartphone program benefits include the opportunity to participate in early access Developer Tools beta programs, and useful programs like the BlackBerry Smartphone Loaner Program and BlackBerry Smartphone Discount Purchase Program.

As a BlackBerry developer, how do you get in on this action? Simple just visit the site, review the membership options (the “Registered User” option is free and you can join today!), click on the ‘JOIN PROGRAM’ button and select the level of membership you wish to subscribe to. For additional program details, check out the BlackBerry Alliance Program Guide.

Are you already a member of the BlackBerry Alliance Program? What tier are you part of and what do you enjoy most about its benefits? Let us know in the comments. Also, be sure to check out more Alliance partner videos on YouTube® to hear the stories of Mitchell, Chris, Julie, Ryan, and Young Lee.