The go-live date of the government’s Fuel Finder price-reporting scheme has seen the PetrolPrices app soar to the top of Apple’s App Store charts.
That app rose to the number-one position in the Store’s ‘travel’ category, being more downloaded than Uber, Ryanair, Booking, and Airbnb, while it reached ninth place in the overall chart yesterday (2 Feb), the day Fuel Finder officially launched.
My Automate, the firm which runs PetrolPrices, said it experienced a surge in traffic, with three times as many people as usual visiting the site, and a twelvefold increase in customer registrations. The company had to double the size of its server at one point to cope with the increased clicks.
Even as of today, PetrolPrices is the number-one app in Apple’s travel category, and sits at 18th place in the Store’s overall chart for free apps.
The launch of Fuel Finder, which mandates the UK’s 8,000-plus forecourts must report any price changes within 30 minutes of them being made, brought with it a flurry of publicity from all major national and local broadcasters and publications, with The Times documenting issues with the system, and highlighting that a quarter of forecourts had not signed up to the scheme on launch day despite being required to do so by law.
My Automate’s Clare Lafferty said that the surge in interest in PetrolPrices “highlights just how actively motorists are searching for trusted, real-time information”.
She added: “For fuel retailers, this isn’t just about fuel price visibility - it’s a powerful way to reach engaged motorists and showcase the full forecourt offer, from car washes and shop promotions to additional services, at the exact moment drivers are making decisions.”
