Late last year, Google introduced a protocol named app indexing, which allows app developers to add meta data that will link a search result to a specific place within an Android app. It went live in the search results a month later.
Now, it seems Bing is about to announce a similar feature for their smartphones, the Windows Phone. Menashe Avramov spotted a new page added to the Bing Webmaster help area named App Linking. The concept is the same, but works from Bing Search to Windows devices.
If you have an app with lots of content and you want to enable people to get directly to that content from a set of search results, then adding app linking will enable that - assuming the user has your app installed on their device.
I should note, none of the technical documentation links currently work - I assume Bing is prepping the announcement and details now.
This is how Bing describes it, but there is some other work that has not been described or documented by Bing yet:
Once you have added your Windows and/or Windows Phone app as a connected page and completed the required steps for your site and app, you can validate your app and site using the client verification tool . After submitting your updated app to the Windows / Windows Phone Store, visit the App Linking page again to notify us that your app and website are ready. Select the App Deep-Link check-box for the app and click the Save button. Bing will download and install your app from the store and run a quick verification to ensure the app and site updates you made are correct. You will receive an email update from us once the updates are verified. The app will start showing up in results once Bing re-crawls your site.
I have a lot of Android apps, so far, I have not done any app linking or indexing with Google. Will I? Probably one day. But now, I have not. Windows, well, we only built one Windows app so far based on the lack of demand.
Forum discussion at Google+.
