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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Searchers on smartphones experience many speed bumps that can slow them down. For example, any
time they need to change context from a web page to an app, or vice versa, users are likely to
encounter redirects, pop-up dialogs, and extra swipes and taps. Wouldn't it be cool if you could
give your users the choice of viewing your content either on the website or via your app, both
straight from Google's search results?
Today, we're happy to announce a new capability of Google Search, called app indexing, that uses
the expertise of webmasters to help create a seamless user experience across websites and mobile
apps.
Just like it crawls and indexes websites, Googlebot can now index content in your Android app.
Webmasters will be able to indicate which app content you'd like Google to index in the same way
you do for webpages today—through your existing Sitemap file and through Webmaster Tools. If
both the webpage and the app contents are successfully indexed, Google will then try to show deep
links to your app straight in our search results when we think they're relevant for the user's
query and if the user has the app installed. When users tap on these deep links, your app will
launch and take them directly to the content they need. Here's an example of a search for home
listings in Mountain View:
We're currently testing app indexing with an initial group of developers. Deep links for these
applications will start to appear in Google search results for signed-in users on Android in the
US in a few weeks. If you are interested in enabling indexing for your Android app, it's easy to
get started:
Let us knowthat you're interested. We're working hard to bring this functionality to more websites and apps
in the near future.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle introduces app indexing, enabling Googlebot to index Android app content for a seamless user experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIndexed app content will appear as deep links in Google Search results for relevant queries if the user has the app installed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eApp indexing is initially available to a select group of developers in the US and will expand to more in the future.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eInterested developers can enable deep linking in their app, provide app URI information, and sign up through provided resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google launched app indexing, enabling Googlebot to index Android app content. Webmasters can indicate content for indexing via Sitemaps and Webmaster Tools. Indexed apps will have deep links displayed in Google search results for relevant queries if users have the app installed. Tapping these links launches the app directly to the specific content. Developers can enable indexing by enabling deep linking, providing app URI information, and informing Google of their interest.\n"],null,["# Indexing apps just like websites\n\nThursday, October 31, 2013\n\n\nSearchers on smartphones experience many speed bumps that can slow them down. For example, any\ntime they need to change context from a web page to an app, or vice versa, users are likely to\nencounter redirects, pop-up dialogs, and extra swipes and taps. Wouldn't it be cool if you could\ngive your users the choice of viewing your content either on the website or via your app, both\nstraight from Google's search results?\n\n\nToday, we're happy to announce a new capability of Google Search, called app indexing, that uses\nthe expertise of webmasters to help create a seamless user experience across websites and mobile\napps.\n\n\nJust like it crawls and indexes websites, Googlebot can now index content in your Android app.\nWebmasters will be able to indicate which app content you'd like Google to index in the same way\nyou do for webpages today---through your existing Sitemap file and through Webmaster Tools. If\nboth the webpage and the app contents are successfully indexed, Google will then try to show deep\nlinks to your app straight in our search results when we think they're relevant for the user's\nquery and if the user has the app installed. When users tap on these deep links, your app will\nlaunch and take them directly to the content they need. Here's an example of a search for home\nlistings in Mountain View:\n\n\nWe're currently testing app indexing with an initial group of developers. Deep links for these\napplications will start to appear in Google search results for signed-in users on Android in the\nUS in a few weeks. If you are interested in enabling indexing for your Android app, it's easy to\nget started:\n\n1. [Let us know](https://docs.google.com/a/google.com/forms/d/1itcqPAQqggJ6e4m8aejWLM8Dc5O8P6qybgGbKCNxGV0/viewform) that you're interested. We're working hard to bring this functionality to more websites and apps in the near future.\n2. [Enable](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/) deep linking within your app.\n3. Provide information about alternate app URIs, either in the Sitemaps file or in a link element in pages of your site.\n\n\nFor more details on implementation and for information on how to sign up,\n[visit our developer site](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/).\nAs always, if you have any questions, please ask in the\n[mobile section of our webmaster forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/threads?hl=en&thread_filter=(category:mobile_web)).\n\n\nPosted by\n[Lawrence Chang](https://plus.google.com/107142669180651081383),\nProduct Manager"]]
