Google Play to Get Sponsored Search Results to Boost App Discovery

Google is bringing paid or sponsored search results to Google Play the company said in a blog post on Thursday.

Much like how this works on Google Search, Google Play will throw up app search results clearly labelled as ads along with organic results.

The reason for this? To enhance app discovery. It's been a bone of contention for many app developers, some of whom have put their apps on third-party app stores which have less competition. With Google Play having the largest user base, it seems like a way for Google to keep developers within its system.

"App discovery plays a critical role in driving your continued success, and over the past year Google has provided best practices to enhance app discovery and engagement, as well as app promotion tools to get the most out of search and display advertising for developers," said Michael Siliski, Product Management Director, Google Play in the blog post.

"We are always looking for new ways to help you get your apps in front of potential new users. That's why, in the next few weeks, we will begin piloting sponsored search results on Google Play, bringing our unique expertise in search ads to the store."

What this also means is, Google stands to earn more revenue from Google Play above and beyond its 30 percent cut for every app transaction. The timing is shrewd with its burgeoning presence. The blog post also mentions that Google Play reaches over a billion users on Android in 190 countries and paid out $7 billion to developers last year.

To start with, a small number of users will start seeing ads from select advertisers in coming weeks. The feedback and results from this pilot will determine the mass rollout for sponsored search results which Google hopes will bring greater success to its developers.