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Digital Kingmaking
Concentration is a hallmark of the internet economy. By deciding where to route traffic or what content to recommend, a small number of companies like Google and Netflix have the ability to play digital kingmaker. The decisions these companies make increasingly influence everything from the way we spend our leisure time to the viability of business models.
King (of the Apps) for a Day
App stores provide an example of digital kingmaking. There are roughly 1.8 million apps in the iOS app store, making discovery a challenge. To help consumers sift through this deluge, Apple provides a rotating selection of curated apps and games. For instance, Curio, an app that provides long-form journalism in audio, was recently featured as the app of the day.
Being featured provides a material boost to app developers. Apps and games featured in the iOS app store see downloads increase roughly 7x and 8x respectively in the featured week compared to the prior week, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower. Being featured in the Google Play Store has a similar impact.
Deciding which apps to feature gives Apple and Google the ability to boost developers as well as…
