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Google Says It Is Working On Improving App Discovery Within Web Search

We are only at the onset of Apps in search, expect App Discovery and Indexing to change drastically over the next year or so.

Barry Schwartz on March 6, 2015 at 9:21 am

Mariya Moeva, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst, said at SMX West during the “Search Inside The App” panel on Wednesday that Google is working on ways to improve app discovery within standard web and mobile web search.

Mariya, who is actively working with the team on App Indexing, which was just added as a mobile ranking signal said that after being asked about the challenge of implementing App Indexing simply because it only currently works if the searcher has the app installed.

Google’s Mariya Moeva said that they are looking into ways to improve app discovery through App Indexing in web search, as a way to help searchers discover helpful content within apps that they do not yet have installed.

Currently, through App Indexing, searchers on Android devices can discover content within their existing apps, if the app has used Google’s App Indexing protocol. Google would display a link in the mobile search results that instead of taking them to a web page, would take them into the app at the content point that is relevant.

But if the searcher does not have the app, the content will not be surfaced to the user. Mariya Moeva said they are looking for ways to change that and improve app discovery as a whole in Google web search.

Mariya Moeva said time and time again during her presentation that Apps are huge and we are just at the beginning of the journey of app indexing and discovery at Google.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.