Over the past months, we have observed a significant and sudden change in Apple Search Ads (now Apple Ads) keyword popularity data. This change also has impacted several metrics and calculations across FoxData that rely on Apple Search Ads popularity as an input signal.
What Happened?
Starting on September 29, 2025, a large portion of keyword popularity values retrieved from the Apple Search Ads API experienced an abrupt drop.
More specifically:
Keywords that previously had high, medium, or low popularity began returning a fixed minimum value (typically “5”).
This change affected tens of thousands of keywords across multiple countries, most notably in the US App Store.
Observed Data Changes
Based on industry-wide observations, the distribution of keyword popularity values changed as follows:
A sharp increase in keywords assigned the lowest popularity tier
A substantial reduction (up to ~75–80%) in total popularity scores across keyword databases
Minimal change in the absolute number of “very high” popularity keywords, but a collapse in the mid- and long-tail segments
How This Affects FoxData Metrics
Because keyword popularity is a foundational input for many analyses, this change may impact:
Keyword search volume and popularity score
Keyword comparison and historical performance views
Features and insights that depend on Apple Search Ads popularity as a weighting factor
As a result, users may notice sudden drops, flattened trends, or inconsistencies when comparing data before and after late September 2025.
How FoxData Is Handling This Change
To minimize disruption and provide users with a more reliable view of keyword trends during this period, FoxData has implemented a temporary adjustment mechanism for search volume and popularity data(Search volume is used as an example below). This approach is designed to preserve trend interpretability while remaining transparent about Apple’s official data output.
Keyword Data Flagging
FoxData first identifies and flags keywords that meet the following condition:
The keyword had stable, normal search volume values historically
The search volume value suddenly dropped to the minimum level (≤5) without any corresponding market signal
Once detected, these keywords are locked and marked internally as affected by the Apple Ads change. This ensures they are handled consistently across trend calculations.
Trend Reconstruction for Reference Purposes
For flagged keywords, FoxData displays two parallel trend lines:
a) Reference Trend (Dashed Line)
The last stable search volume value before the sudden drop is used as a baseline.
Based on this baseline, FoxData calculates a relative change curve that reflects a more meaningful trend over time.
This reconstructed trend is displayed as a dashed line, clearly indicating that it is an adjusted, reference-only visualization.
The purpose of this dashed line is to help users understand directional changes and momentum, rather than absolute search volume values.
b) Official Apple Data (Solid Line)
Search volume values directly returned by Apple Search Ads API continue to be displayed as a solid line.
This ensures full transparency and allows users to see the raw data exactly as provided by Apple, even when values are compressed at the minimum level.
Conditional Display Logic
FoxData applies the reference (dashed) trend only when necessary:
If, on a given day, the official Apple Search Ads popularity data does not exhibit an abnormal drop, FoxData will:
Stop displaying the dashed reference line for that date
Rely exclusively on the solid-line official data
This means the dashed line is shown only during periods affected by abnormal search volume compression, and automatically disappears once official data returns to a normal distribution.
Transparency and Interpretation
This dual-line approach allows users to:
Distinguish clearly between official Apple-provided data and FoxData’s reference trend
Maintain continuity in keyword trend analysis across the Q4 2025 disruption
Avoid misinterpreting sudden drops caused by data source changes as real market demand shifts
It is important to note that the dashed reference trend is intended for analytical guidance only and does not replace Apple’s official popularity metric.