Bango is obsessed with app store billing optimization – leveraging mobile innovations to simplify the payment experience, boost spend and increase customer engagement. We are therefore delighted to learn that Google is streamlining their Android app discovery and installation process.
Recent reports state that Google is rolling out the ability to install apps from search results on their Android smartphone – without requiring the user to go into the Google Play store. This immediately removes friction from the process to provide a better user experience. The payment mechanism remains unchanged, offering the exact same payment options and flow as the app store without the need to step outside of the search results.
Currently:
New:
This functionality is enabled by something called “Deep Linking”. It is currently used by 3rd party applications like Facebook and Twitter to allow search results on an Android smartphone to display recent tweets or Facebook updates. Clicking a search result then places the user directly into the app rather than trying to open the web version by default.
By deep-linking search results into Google Play, users can click a result link and open up an install page for the relevant app. Consequently in one click, the user can purchase and directly install teh app or content. It means that searching for “Gems” could list an in-app ‘bag of gems’ for Clash of Clans, dropping the buyer straight into their game, making these extremely popular purchases more direct and significantly simpler to make, improving customer experience and, importantly boosting sales.
– Andy Bovingdon, VP Product Marketing