Google adds iPhone App Store links to mobile search results

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google has added App Store results to its mobile search page, allowing users to find and quickly download applications for their iPhone or iPod touch through a simple browser search.



Google announced the new feature on its official Mobile Blog this week. Software engineers Milena Nikolic and Paul Hadfield said the idea is to help users quickly download an application as they search for mobile app information.



Applications show up at the top of search results on Google's mobile site. Selecting an application launches the App Store and takes users to that software's specific listing. The creator of the software, as well as user reviews, are listed alongside the link.



Users can also select "more results for your iPhone," which automatically conducts a search within the App Store software and displays the results. The same search results do not yet provide App Store links on the iPad, which accesses the desktop version of Google search.



Mobile app search results are currently available for both the iPhone and Android handsets in the U.S. Other devices and new countries are planned for the future, Google said.







Google's new feature could be seen as a mobile counterpart to Apple's own iTunes Preview service, which also provides information about content within the browser. The feature was first introduced last November, and gives customers the opportunity to view iTunes content without launching the desktop application, and even listen to song samples from within the browser.



This year, Apple expanded iTunes Preview, allowing users to view information on App Store software from within the browser. Users can view descriptions, prices and screenshots of applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the Apple-hosted site.



However, opening an iTunes link on an iPhone currently automatically launches the respective iTunes or App Store mobile application. Apple does not currently send users to a mobile version of the iTunes Preview website.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    steviestevie Posts: 956member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Google has added App Store results to its mobile search page, allowing users to find and quickly download applications for their iPhone or iPod touch through a simple browser search.





    Once again, Google swoops in to the rescue.
  • Reply 2 of 32
    Maybe this is Google's way of saying "thanks for helping us purchase AdMob"?
  • Reply 3 of 32
    swingeswinge Posts: 110member
    I hope Google doesn't start slanting their results to their advantage...in fairness, in doing this search for the Mint app: http://www.google.com/search?q=mint+...8&oe=utf8&rlz= The iPhone version comes up first. (the reason one would assume is that it has the most entries, is the most popular and is assumed to be the most relevant).



    It still is creepy though... There are no real challengers to Google in search... as they expand into more businesses, they constantaly need to be monitored. If they ever do start creating biases in their results, God help us all....
  • Reply 4 of 32
    aiaddictaiaddict Posts: 487member
    OK, a nice start, but where is the app search from a desktop browser? Putt apps on the main google page next to images videos and maps so I can browse potential purchases from a PC with a better interface than the horrific POS that is iTunes and they will make me very happy.
  • Reply 5 of 32
    I for one would like to see an Apple competitor to Google. E.g., AppleSearch



    I would use it exclusively and knowing Apple they could figure out how to have great integration with there other software...mail, iCal, pages, etc.



    Please Apple hire a 100 smart people give them a $500,000,000 budget and lets do it!



    If Google can compete with the Apple iPhone and MS can compete with Apple Retail (with those two MS stores) then Apple can compete with Google in Search!



    Best
  • Reply 6 of 32
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I wonder where they are getting the app keywords to index? From Apple directly, or maybe from the iTunes Preview site.
  • Reply 7 of 32
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Stevie View Post


    Once again, Google swoops in to the rescue.



    out of the goodness of their hearts
  • Reply 8 of 32
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    About time that there is a slightly more usable way to search for apps. It is amazing how challenging the AppStore has become for browsing applications!
  • Reply 9 of 32
    delanydelany Posts: 51member
    This is a much needed step to bring variety to the way users find iphone apps. Really, from a UI perspective, Apple should be ashamed of the App store. It has obscure navigation, poor search and extremely limited and often downright crap 'featured' selections.



    Granted, they're selling a lot of apps - but that is more due to the surprisingly small number of decent apps that are easy to find rather than the breadth they boast of in advertising. Most decent apps are hidden in a sea of crap due to iTune's arcane structure.



    I have a number of apps in the store - they are a compliment to a highly trafficked website and have very good reviews on big review sites. Almost all sales still come through users stumbling on the app directly through the App store by some random bit of navigation.



    There's enough content in the App store now that a bit of real competition in the way Apps are accessed is long past due.
  • Reply 10 of 32
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    to all of the AI posters who complain about trolls,

    Google has expanded their search capabilities to apps and all you can do is bitch.

    i understand this is an apple fanboy site, but 8 of the 10 posts above are bitter and cynical.



    say what you will about android, and chrome, but google has the best search engine available.

    this is a nice little bit of news and i'm happy to hear it.
  • Reply 11 of 32
    cincyteecincytee Posts: 403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    I for one would like to see an Apple competitor to Google, e.g., AppleSearch.



    Cyberdog!
  • Reply 12 of 32
    masternavmasternav Posts: 442member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by delany View Post


    This is a much needed step to bring variety to the way users find iphone apps. Really, from a UI perspective, Apple should be ashamed of the App store. It has obscure navigation, poor search and extremely limited and often downright crap 'featured' selections.



    Granted, they're selling a lot of apps - but that is more due to the surprisingly small number of decent apps that are easy to find rather than the breadth they boast of in advertising. Most decent apps are hidden in a sea of crap due to iTune's arcane structure.



    I have a number of apps in the store - they are a compliment to a highly trafficked website and have very good reviews on big review sites. Almost all sales still come through users stumbling on the app directly through the App store by some random bit of navigation.



    There's enough content in the App store now that a bit of real competition in the way Apps are accessed is long past due.



    when you made this statement:



    Quote:

    Almost all sales still come through users stumbling on the app directly through the App store...



    you nearly derailed your own points.



  • Reply 13 of 32
    masternavmasternav Posts: 442member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by desarc View Post


    to all of the AI posters who complain about trolls,

    Google has expanded their search capabilities to apps and all you can do is bitch.

    i understand this is an apple fanboy site, but 8 of the 10 posts above are bitter and cynical.



    say what you will about android, and chrome, but google has the best search engine available.

    this is a nice little bit of news and i'm happy to hear it.





    what value is it to say it is the best? Sorry, the only reason for the search engine to exist is to feed Google ad services, period. Ad services are the heart and soul of Google, and every aspect of what they do whether inadvertently or intentionally good is keyed into that function, and the collecting of every scrap of information it can pry from you. In your glorification of all the wonder that is Google it pays to temper your adulation with a little reality.



  • Reply 14 of 32
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by masternav View Post


    what value is it to say it is the best? Sorry, the only reason for the search engine to exist is to feed Google ad services, period. Ad services are the heart and soul of Google, and every aspect of what they do whether inadvertently or intentionally good is keyed into that function, and the collecting of every scrap of information it can pry from you. In your glorification of all the wonder that is Google it pays to temper your adulation with a little reality.







    there is a very good reason that half of all searches are done via google.



    and imagine that, someone wants to make a profit from the service their providing to you for free.

    would you rather they didn't have advertising revenue and went out of business? would you prefer to pay for your searches? use AOL keywords? good luck finding new iPhone apps that way. name me a better search engine and i'll try it out.



    and by the way, google doesn't make advertising profit on their contributions to alternative energy or the human genome project, to name two of thousands of examples.
  • Reply 15 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    I wonder where they are getting the app keywords to index? From Apple directly, or maybe from the iTunes Preview site.



    Everyone's getting too paranoid here. I can feel the polarization much like Microsoft and Apple back in the day. Come on folks, snap out of it!



    Anywho. Regarding indexing, Apple clearly created the iTunes preview pages so that Google (and other search engines) can index them. No iTunes scraping necessary. Moreover, I'm not sure why the Apple Insider articles last sentence implies that Apple wants to give ANYONE a web preview. They certainly don't... but its up to Google regarding results. I'm sure Apple likes that they go right to the link, and NOT to the preview page instead.



    ~ CB
  • Reply 16 of 32
    masternavmasternav Posts: 442member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by desarc View Post


    there is a very good reason that half of all searches are done via google.



    and imagine that, someone wants to make a profit from the service their providing to you for free.

    would you rather they didn't have advertising revenue and went out of business? would you prefer to pay for your searches? use AOL keywords? good luck finding new iPhone apps that way. name me a better search engine and i'll try it out.



    and by the way, google doesn't make advertising profit on their contributions to alternative energy or the human genome project, to name two of thousands of examples.



    and let me give you an alternative example. Would you allow a company to basically monitor all your personal activities, what you eat, how much you go to the bathroom, with whom you associate, where you shop, what you buy, what you throw away, and where you go. In return they will offer you an unlimited bus pass that is good nationwide, in any city, on any busline. Oh and they will also contribute to the humanitarian project of your choice. The only thing you have to do is tolerate the large ad boards that are now in your front yard, and the new constant companion that helpfully points out all kinds of cool things you should buy with the money you are saving from your unlimited buspass.



    Funny how folks like Wikipedia didn't go out of business with no ad revenue - and yet provide a very widely used service. See it's not an either/or kind of thing is it. It is what is appropriate and how best to operate a business that purportedly serves the public interest.



    Just for the record, what proof do you have that they do not make advertising profit of their contributions to altenergy or HGP? The case can be made that they do so as a way of profiling themselves for PR purposes, which positively impacts the attitudes of folks like you who are sympathetic to such causes and thus see Google as beneficent and good.



    The attitude of the railroad barons of the Industrial Era was that they were providing a public service by building and maintaining rail service across the country, and became extremely wealthy in the process. Some few of them even went so far as to create philanthropic trusts to further humanitarian goals with their wealth. But the railroads were built on the backs of common laborers, who were worked incessantly, brutally in some cases. They had to endure all kinds of privation and many died during the construction of the railways. See? the whole picture is seldom as pretty as the part they want you to see, to the exclusion of the darker more questionable parts. If the ends justify the means in your mind then - so be it. But the world you allow them to create for you may not be the wonderful thing they tell you it is.



  • Reply 17 of 32
    arlomediaarlomedia Posts: 271member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by masternav View Post


    and let me give you an alternative example. Would you allow a company to basically monitor all your personal activities, what you eat, how much you go to the bathroom, with whom you associate, where you shop, what you buy, what you throw away, and where you go.



    I don't use gmail. I do use Google Analytics, but the moment I'm done using it, I log out. This keeps my search activity anonymous. I'm comfortable with this tradeoff. (But I do know a lot of people who remain logged into gmail 24/7, providing Google lots of good, personalized data.)
  • Reply 18 of 32
    delanydelany Posts: 51member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by masternav View Post


    when you made this statement:



    Almost all sales still come through users stumbling on the app directly through the App store by some random bit of navigation.



    you nearly derailed your own points.







    Only if you believe random stumbling is an efficient way of seeking out what you want.



    Bottom line is the App store has terrible navigation, search etc. But nobody uses anything else because there is no effective alternative. We should celebrate Google's entry into the space.



    [On a side note and reading some of the ridiculously reactionary comments recently ... This board used to have some semblance of balance - really, believing Apple does great things shouldn't prevent you from understanding that it also does some crap things].
  • Reply 19 of 32
    aiaddictaiaddict Posts: 487member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by masternav View Post


    and let me give you an alternative example. Would you allow a company to basically monitor all your personal activities, what you eat, how much you go to the bathroom, with whom you associate, where you shop, what you buy, what you throw away, and where you go. In return they will offer you an unlimited bus pass that is good nationwide, in any city, on any busline. Oh and they will also contribute to the humanitarian project of your choice. The only thing you have to do is tolerate the large ad boards that are now in your front yard, and the new constant companion that helpfully points out all kinds of cool things you should buy with the money you are saving from your unlimited buspass.



    Funny how folks like Wikipedia didn't go out of business with no ad revenue - and yet provide a very widely used service. See it's not an either/or kind of thing is it. It is what is appropriate and how best to operate a business that purportedly serves the public interest.



    Just for the record, what proof do you have that they do not make advertising profit of their contributions to altenergy or HGP? The case can be made that they do so as a way of profiling themselves for PR purposes, which positively impacts the attitudes of folks like you who are sympathetic to such causes and thus see Google as beneficent and good.



    The attitude of the railroad barons of the Industrial Era was that they were providing a public service by building and maintaining rail service across the country, and became extremely wealthy in the process. Some few of them even went so far as to create philanthropic trusts to further humanitarian goals with their wealth. But the railroads were built on the backs of common laborers, who were worked incessantly, brutally in some cases. They had to endure all kinds of privation and many died during the construction of the railways. See? the whole picture is seldom as pretty as the part they want you to see, to the exclusion of the darker more questionable parts. If the ends justify the means in your mind then - so be it. But the world you allow them to create for you may not be the wonderful thing they tell you it is.







    Thank you for the communist perspective. Unfortunately your are the one who has created a Utopia in your mind that is deeply out of touch with the real world.



    Now for a dose of reality. People did not take huge risks and invest time and money to create google to serve the public interest. They took risks and made investments because there was an outside chance they could wind up with a multi billion dollar company as a reward. No potential for big proffits would mean there would be no google, no apple, no ibm, no personal computers, cell phones etc. Personally, I am glad there are google's out there trying to EARN money through inovation that makes my life a heck of a lot better than the one my great grandparents had.



    The railroads were built by laborors who chose to work for the rail road in exchange for the wages offered. Some of the railroad barons who built the railroads in hopes of making themselves wealthy were extremely successful but many were not. You only remember the winners and you ignore all those whose risks and investments did not pay off. The railroad barrons also made a lot of other people wealthy, and they played a huge role in enabling our nation to grow and prosper and transform from a backwoods to a world power. And then they gave much of their wealth away through philanthopy. Damn them greedy SOBS, it would have been much better if they had stayed subsistence farmers with their comrades huh?



    Why don't you go back to working the land by hand and by mule and let the rest of us enjoy whatever it is google wants to offer us in exchange for a few ad dollars.
  • Reply 20 of 32
    steviestevie Posts: 956member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    If Google can compete with the Apple iPhone and MS can compete with Apple Retail (with those two MS stores) then Apple can compete with Google in Search!



    .





    On the desktop search is where it?s at; that?s where the money is. But on a mobile device search hasn?t happened. Search is not where it?s at, people are not searching on a mobile device like they do on the desktop.



    People are going into apps. They?re not just going onto to websites. And people love apps. This is an entirely new thing ? they aren?t using search, they?re using apps like Yelp.
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