Android app install links added to Google+ social network timelines

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is leveraging its social networking reach to drive downloads of Android mobile applications, introducing install links within Google+ user timelines.

The Next Web reports that Google+ users can now share Android apps and games recommendations to their social networking contacts by pasting Google Play storefront URLs directly into their feed. Google+ automatically embeds an Install button--clicking the button generates the app's Google Play page as well as a prompt asking the user to confirm installation and identify which of his Android devices should download the app.

The Next Web notes that Google+ previously enabled users to share previews of Google Play music and movie selections within their timelines. The report adds that while consumers also can endorse Android apps directly within Google Play by clicking the +1 button, doing so inserts the recommendation into their Google+ feed but does not generate the Install button.

Google+ social recommendations have the potential to significantly improve app discovery and visibility for Android developers and publishers struggling to gain attention within the conventional Google Play environment. For example, social networking rival Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) recently introduced mobile advertising units promoting Android and iOS app downloads directly within users' mobile news feeds. The campaigns target consumers based on the apps and games they and their friends already access on their smartphones, and clicking an ad directs their mobile device to the appropriate download page within Google Play or Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store.

"In early results, beta partners like Kabam, Fab, TinyCo and Big Fish were able to reach a more relevant audience and efficiently drive installs," Facebook software engineer Vijaye Raji wrote in a blog post published last month. "For example, TinyCo saw 50 percent higher [click-through rates] and significantly higher conversion rates compared to their current mobile channels, as well as a significant increase in player engagement… Ad Parlor saw consistent CTR's from news feed of 1-2 percent from engaged users looking for iPhone and Android games that their friends were playing."

For more:
- read this Next Web article

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