Report: Apple Is Forming A 'Secret Team' To Evaluate App Store Changes - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

According to a report by

Bloomberg, Apple Inc. AAPL has assembled a "secret team" that will be tasked with exploring changes to its App Store. Bloomberg, citing "people familiar with the plans," stated that potential changes to the App Store include the implementation of a paid search in which app developers pay Apple to have their app showcased at the top of a search result. App developers have proven to be lucrative sources of revenue for internet companies, Bloomberg added. For example, Supercell Oy, the maker of 'Clash of Clans' is overseeing growing marketing budgets. Other new features include an improvement in the way customers browse available apps. Bloomberg added that the size of Apple's team is around 100 and consists of engineers from the company's advertising group iAD. The company's Vice President Todd Teresi is said to be overseeing the imitative. Krishna Subramanian, a mobile advertising expert and founder of

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told Bloomberg that if Apple goes through with the idea of a paid search format, it will be "huge." He added, "anything that you can do to help drive more awareness to your app, to get organic downloads, is critical." Shares of Apple were trading lower by around 0.40 percent Friday morning.

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