Dive Brief:

• Google launched Google App Streaming, a service that lets searchers find in-app content and then view that content without having to download the app.
• Currently the service is limited to nine partners, including Hotel Tonight and New York Subway.
• The feature stands to eventually benefit marketers by offering an organic “sample” of an app that might lead to a download that wasn’t prompted by advertising.

Dive Insight:

Google has been busy trying to create more of a “web of apps,” rather than having apps exist as millions of tiny little islands, through measures such as indexing in-app content that it can serve up in mobile searches. The latest feature, Google App Streaming, takes things a step further by allowing users to essentially play that app content like a video without having to download the app itself.

Since app download is a major goal of app marketers, the premise might seem problematic. But, since most app downloads are driven by ad dollars, Google App Streaming will provide an organic route to users finding apps, not unlike organic web traffic driven by keyword searches. Once the feature rolls out across all apps, it could potentially become a driving source of organic app downloads.

Currently Google App Streaming is limited to nine launch partners: Hotel Tonight, Weather Channel, Chimani, Gormey, My Horoscope, Visual Anatomy Free, Useful Knots, Daily Horoscope and New York Subway.