Google has announced that it will allow Android users try out an app available in search results before installing it. The move as described by Google is an attempt to make downloading an app more enjoyable. This scheme is dubbed as Search Trial Run Ads and will be available as a beta program for some selected advertisers in the U.S.A.
Users with an Android smartphone will be allowed to play the app up for 10 minutes over a Wi-Fi connection and later they can decide whether to download it in full or move on to another application. While browsing for a game on Google, a user can click on to ‘Try Now’ embedded within the search ad and they can take a trial run, like one we have seen while we stream applications from ‘organic results’.
Search Trial run Ads will be initially made available to users based in the United States, but we expect this trial based ad service to extend to other countries in near future. This new program is expected to be of great benefit to app developers since it will drive highly qualified users to the app who are more likely to remain engaged with it even after a long time has passed since its installation.
“When mobile users are looking for entertainment they often turn to gaming apps. In 2015, an estimated 41% of all apps downloaded were games. However, while a user may be excited about downloading an app, it can soon be forgotten; studies have shown that 1 in 4 installed apps are never used,” Google quoted in a blog.
Apart from the trial program, Google has announced few other incentives at GDC 2016 in San Francisco like AdMob Mediation and Portrait Video Ads, which will soon be coming in the forms of mobile applications. At first instance that these tools and ad services are for developers but they are also committed to improving overall user experiences.