Play Store Competitor Analysis

Extract comprehensive app data and screenshots from Google Play Store listings for competitive analysis. Supports single app analysis, multi-app comparison, or searching for top competitors by keyword.

Requirements

Install the google-play-scraper package. On modern macOS/Linux systems, you'll need to use a virtual environment:

# Create a virtual environment in the skill directory (one-time setup)
python3 -m venv .venv

# Activate and install the package
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install google-play-scraper

Then run the script with the virtual environment's python:

# Use the venv python directly (no activation needed)
.venv/bin/python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "messenger" ./output

# Or activate first, then run
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "messenger" ./output

Workflow

1. Determine the analysis type:
   • Single app: User provides a Play Store URL or package ID
   • Comparison: User provides multiple URLs/package IDs
   • Search: User wants to find top competitors for a keyword (e.g., "top 10 messenger apps")
2. Run the appropriate scraper command
3. Review the generated outputs with the user

Usage

Single App Analysis

Run the scraper with a Play Store URL or package ID:

python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py "<play_store_url_or_package_id>" "<output_directory>"

Examples:

# Using URL
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slack" ./competitor-analysis/slack

# Using package ID directly
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py com.slack ./competitor-analysis/slack

Multiple App Comparison

Run the scraper with multiple URLs or package IDs:

python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --compare "<id1>" "<id2>" "<id3>" "<output_directory>"

Example:

python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --compare \
  com.slack \
  com.microsoft.teams \
  com.discord \
  ./competitor-analysis/messaging-apps

Search for Top Competitors

Search for top apps by keyword and automatically analyze them:

python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "<query>" "<output_directory>" --limit <N>

Examples:

# Find and analyze top messenger apps
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "messenger apps" ./competitor-analysis/messenger --limit 10

# Find top 5 podcast apps
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "podcast" ./competitor-analysis/podcasts --limit 5

# Default limit is 10 if not specified
python3 scripts/scrape_play_store.py --search "fitness tracker" ./competitor-analysis/fitness

Output

Single App Output

output_dir/
├── {package-id}.json    # Full structured data
├── {package-id}.md      # Formatted report
├── icon.png             # App icon
└── screenshots/
    ├── screenshot_01.png
    ├── screenshot_02.png
    └── ...

Comparison/Search Output

output_dir/
├── comparison.json      # All apps data for programmatic use
├── comparison.md        # Side-by-side comparison report
├── {app-1-package-id}/
│   ├── {package-id}.json
│   ├── {package-id}.md
│   ├── icon.png
│   └── screenshots/
├── {app-2-package-id}/
│   └── ...
└── {app-3-package-id}/
    └── ...

Data Extracted

Field	Description
title	App name
description	Full app description
short_description	Brief summary
rating	Average star rating (1-5)
rating_count	Number of ratings
reviews_count	Number of text reviews
histogram	Rating distribution [1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, 5-star]
installs	Install count range (e.g., "10,000,000+")
real_installs	Actual install count estimate
category	Primary category
category_id	Category ID (e.g., GAME_ACTION)
price	Price or 0 for free
free	Boolean: is app free
currency	Price currency code
contains_ads	Boolean: has advertisements
offers_iap	Boolean: has in-app purchases
iap_range	In-app purchase price range
developer	Developer name
developer_id	Developer ID
developer_email	Developer contact email
developer_website	Developer website URL
developer_address	Developer address
privacy_policy	Privacy policy URL
version	Current version
android_version	Minimum Android version (text)
content_rating	Content rating (Everyone, Teen, etc.)
content_rating_description	Content rating details
released	Original release date
last_updated	Last update timestamp
screenshots	All screenshot URLs
video	Promo video URL if available
icon_url	App icon URL
header_image	Header/feature graphic URL

Comparison Report Includes

Metric	Description
Rating comparison	Side-by-side ratings with visual indicators
Install base	Relative market presence with actual numbers
Update frequency	Last update dates
Monetization	Free/paid, ads, IAP comparison
Feature highlights	Key differentiators from descriptions
Competitive insights	Highest rated, most installed, etc.

Notes

• Uses the google-play-scraper Python package for reliable data extraction
• Screenshots are downloaded at high resolution
• Rate limiting is applied automatically to avoid blocking
• For comparison/search mode, apps are processed sequentially with delays
• Output directories are created if they don't exist
• The comparison report highlights competitive advantages and gaps
• Search results are ordered by Play Store's ranking algorithm