Google has been known, in most parts, a developer-friendly company. Be it dev-friendly code, open-sourcing software or best advertising revenues, Google keeps bringing more benefits to its massive developer community. And there’s an addition to that.
Following an effort, the company began in February this year that would allow mobile application developers building for Android the ability to advertise their applications directly in the Google Play store, Google has today announced an expansion to this feature.
The feature, dubbed as ‘Search Ads’, will bring forward apps in search results when users search for particular keywords.
The new feature has been launched following Google’s new study, that search ads shown next to organic search results on their website can significantly improve content discovery for users and advertisers. The new feature will be initially available only to those advertisers who were already running search ads on Google.com. But we can expect it to go Global for everyone soon.
Google Play reaches more than 1 billion people on Android devices in more than 190 countries. With such an extensive reach, Search Ads on Google Play can provide consumers new ways to discover apps that they otherwise might have missed and help developers drive more awareness of their apps.
The new effort will help users search for and discover apps more easily and will be useful for developers to promote their products. According to Google, companies like Booking.com and Nordeus have already signed up for the service and are getting their apps promoted on the PlayStore via search ads.
Google is also introducing Android first app opens, a new conversion tracking solution that measures when a user first opens an app they have downloaded through an ad. The feature not only provides app conversion tracking across Search, Display and YouTube, the new solution also allows developers to better align the conversion volume they see in AdWords with the data they see in a third-party measurement solution.
To ensure data consistency and give developers the freedom to use reporting and optimization features across AdWords and third-party solutions of their choice, Google is working with key partners like Tune, AppsFlyer, Kochava, Adjust and Apsalar.
Another feature, soon to be launched is called Universal App Campaigns. This will be rolled out in the weeks to come and will allow developers to get their ads up on all of Google’s supported platforms including: Search, YouTube, the AdMob in-app network, and the 2M+ sites on the Google Display Network. This will be a great solution for developers who want to get the best without much effort.
Surojit Chatterjee, Director, Product Management, Mobile Search Ads writes,
As the apps ecosystem continues to grow, we’re dedicated to creating products that help developers get their apps to the users who will love them. From adding search ads to Google Play, to improving Android conversion tracking and simplifying campaign management with Universal App Campaigns, we hope these new tools will bring even more success to our app developer community.
