iTunes search api not returning keyword results in the same order as iOS App Store

Question

I'm trying to do some SEO and I want to index the location of an application based on keyword searching. By using the official search API, I've come up with the following query:

https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=software&term=sql+server&limit=&country=us&limit=200

To search the US App Store, for the term sql server. The app I am looking for current shows up in this list at position ~20'th. If I search from my phone, the app is closer to the ~30'th position (other search terms perform even worse). I have tried to use Wireshark to capture the search from my phone to try and see if they use different endpoints, but was unable to capture due to ssl.

Does anyone know of a way to scrape iOS App Store search results in the proper order?

Answer 1

Apple is under no obligation to return search results in any particular order, and is likely to change them depending on client/what search cluster you hit.

Seeing what your phone is sending to the app store is very difficult, however, as Apple takes excessive measures to ensure that communications aren't being read. Last time I tried required BURP Suite, a jailbroken phone, an app to disable SSL pinning, and manually restarting the app store on the phone, which would occasionally crash it.