Play Console · 25 Sept 2026 · 6 min read

Play Console vs a keyword rank tracker: what each one tells you

Play Console shows what people searched before installing. A rank tracker shows where you appear for each search, every day. Here’s how the two fit together, with examples of questions only one of them can answer.

AASODrift team · Indie Android developers

Key takeaways

Play Console: your real visitors, installs, conversion and the search terms that brought them.
Rank tracker: your position for each keyword, per country, every day, and when it changes.
Use both: Play Console to choose keywords, the tracker to watch them.

Disclosure: ASODrift is our product. We’ve tried to be fair about the other tools, including where they are the better choice.

Question	Play Console	Rank tracker
Which searches brought installs last month?	Yes	No
What’s my conversion rate from search?	Yes	No
Where do I rank for “budget planner” in India today?	No	Yes
Did I drop out of the top 10 this week?	No	Yes, with an alert
Where does my competitor rank for my keyword?	No	Yes
What did my competitor change in their listing?	No	Yes, with a listing timeline

How to use them together

Open Play Console’s search terms and pick the ones that bring installs.
Track those terms daily in a rank tracker, plus a few you want to win.
When search traffic changes in Play Console, check positions in the tracker to see which keyword moved.
After a listing change, watch positions weekly, then confirm the effect on installs in Play Console.

Add rank tracking to your Play Console data

ASODrift is read-only: it never needs Play Console access.

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+Does Play Console show keyword rankings?

No. It shows search terms that brought visitors and installs, not your position for a keyword.

+Does ASODrift need access to my Play Console?

No. It reads public Google Play search results only.