ASO Consulting — iOS textual update (US)
How HyperHug brought 'NDA keyword' back and lifted Oxide installs by 34% in the US App Store
HyperHug worked with AppFollow ASO Consulting on a targeted textual metadata update for Oxide: Survival Island in the US App Store. The update recovered the high-intent keyword 'NDA keyword' along with its associated word cloud, driving a measurable lift in search impressions, downloads, and conversions within two weeks.
Goals
Recover lost keyword positions and grow organic search traffic for Oxide: Survival Island in the US App Store through a targeted textual metadata update with the explicit aim of bringing back the high-value 'NDA keyword' and its associated word cloud.
Numbers reached with AppFollow
In the two weeks following the January 30, 2026 metadata update (compared with the two weeks prior):
+34%
increase in search downloads
+11%
increase in search impressions
+152
net new ranked keywords (398 new, 246 lost)
+1.26%
lift in search conversion rate
Search Visibility Score moved from 17,658 to 21,437 (+21%), and total ranked keywords grew to 2,700, with 86 new entries in the Top 100 and 72 new entries in the Top 50.
Key satisfaction
'NDA keyword' is back: the keyword recovered its position alongside its associated word cloud, which the team identified as the primary driver of the install lift
Conversion rate improved alongside volume: impressions and downloads both grew, and search CR climbed from 6.08% to 7.34%, indicating the new traffic was higher-quality, not just higher-volume
Net positive keyword movement: 398 new keywords gained, 246 lost, with +86 entries into the Top 100 and +72 into the Top 50
Result delivered within a single textual update: no paid spend uplift, no creative refresh, no app version dependency
Afterword
Metadata updates are rarely the first priority in mobile app marketing, and they are not always the main focus of ASO for games either. However, the Oxide case shows why they still shouldn’t be ignored: even if the current metadata performs well, search rankings can shift over time, competitors can become more aggressive, and key traffic-driving queries can slowly lose positions.
That’s why it’s worth checking the app’s ranking for core keywords at least once per quarter. This helps spot early drops, protect the most valuable search terms, and avoid losing organic traffic from queries that already bring strong visibility and installs to the game.
