Using Google Search and YouTube to Promote Your App
August 20th, 2014 | Published in Google Adwords, Youtube
Earlier this year, we announced our next generation of app promotion ads across Google Search, the Google Display Network and YouTube. The features on the Display Network launched in June as part of Google I/O. Today, I’m excited to announce the global availability of the search ads and YouTube offerings.
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Once you have a large base of users who’ve installed your app, how do you keep them engaged? Since 80% of downloaded apps are downloaded and used only once,1 it’s more important than ever to help users remember your app when searching for relevant content that you can provide. Starting today, you can deep link users directly from Google Search into specific pages of apps they’ve already installed by signing up for the beta here. Customers like LINE, Zoopla and Booking.com are already testing deep-linking with their apps. Here’s how it works: let’s say someone has the Booking.com app installed on their phone and searches for “San Francisco Hotels” on Google.com; now they can go directly to the specific page in the Booking.com app that shows listings for hotels in San Francisco.
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YouTube for App Promotion
1Source: Digital Trends, 2013
Google Search for App Install and Re-Engagement
There are over 100 billion searches per month on Google.com. People search here for places to visit, movies to watch or music to listen to. Sometimes this content lives on a website, sometimes it’s in an app. Now with just 3 easy steps, you can get your app into an ad by using a new, simplified campaign set-up flow that promotes your app on Google.com. Search ads created with this new flow are only shown to people who don’t already have your app -- so every click is from a potential new user, saving you time and money.
Retale, an app for finding great deals in your city, is already seeing strong performance. Christoph Hoyer, Retale’s head of mobile marketing shared that “The results have exceeded our expectations, Google search ads provide high-volume quality traffic for Retale’s app with a cost per install around $2.”
Click here to get started.
How do you select the best keywords so your ad shows to consumers most likely to download your app? Use the keyword suggestion tool for app ads on search. This tool suggests keywords to include in your campaign based on top queries used for finding your app on Google Play and Google Search. FarFaria, a leading children’s e-book app, expanded their Google search ads keyword lists by using this tool and was able to unlock 30% more app downloads while maintaining a click through rate of 3% and a cost per install that was 50% below other mobile networks.
Once you have a large base of users who’ve installed your app, how do you keep them engaged? Since 80% of downloaded apps are downloaded and used only once,1 it’s more important than ever to help users remember your app when searching for relevant content that you can provide. Starting today, you can deep link users directly from Google Search into specific pages of apps they’ve already installed by signing up for the beta here. Customers like LINE, Zoopla and Booking.com are already testing deep-linking with their apps. Here’s how it works: let’s say someone has the Booking.com app installed on their phone and searches for “San Francisco Hotels” on Google.com; now they can go directly to the specific page in the Booking.com app that shows listings for hotels in San Francisco.
The power of sight, sound and motion makes YouTube users more than 2X more likely to download apps.2 Starting today, you can showcase your app when people are watching their favorite videos using a new enhancement to TrueView ads. With TrueView, advertisers can reach potential customers based on their interests, previously-watched videos and demographics. Deepak Gupta, chief revenue officer at MachineZone, a leading mobile game developer, noted that by "Using YouTube we didn't just find more customers, we found more of the ‘right’ customers. We know video platforms in general deliver valuable users, but we found that users who download our app from YouTube are 15% more valuable than those from any other video platform."
Start promoting your app on YouTube by simply linking your app’s ID to your TrueView campaigns. Learn more
Better Measurement = Better Campaigns
To attract the right customers and keep them engaged, it's important to have robust insights into how people interact with your app and tools to fine-tune your bids for app ads. Check out these 3 new search ads offerings that help you do just that:
- Measure app download conversions: App installs show up as conversions automatically in AdWords without any additional setup, for Android apps on Google Play. Learn more
- Integrate your analytics data: If you’re using third party tracking systems, import information about your apps, directly into AdWords. Learn more
- Automate your bids: Use Target CPA when creating your app campaign to automatically find the optimal bid for your ad each time its eligible for an auction, without waiting for conversion history to accumulate. This lets you immediately maximize the total number of installs at your target CPA. Learn more
Over the coming weeks we’ll dive into these new features with tips and best practices on the Inside AdWords blog and on our Google+ page. We also invite you to register for our “Promoting Your App on Search” Google Hangout On Air on 9/18.
Posted by Jerry Dischler, VP of Product Management, AdWords
1Source: Digital Trends, 2013
2Source: YouTube Global Audience Study, IPSOS 2013