For some time Google PC search has indexed links to iTunes enabling users to click through and directly review or download mobile apps. Now Google is doing something similar in mobile search by putting links to mobile apps and related information at the top of results.

Clicking the associated link (see below) takes users directly to iTunes or the Android market on the device to download the app. It’s a nice way to efficiently get to an app vs. opening the app store and searching for a particular app. It’s one less step. However it’s not quite as good an app “discovery” mechanism as, say, a Chomp.

There’s a bit of an irony here. Google is doing this to make mobile search a more useful and more widely utilized tool. However apps are sometimes substituted by iPhone users in particular for general search.

Related Topics: Google: Mobile

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling

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