Google said its mobile search tool is now able to show content that may be buried within apps.
Google began indexing the content of mobile apps two years ago, and has more than 100 billion deep links into apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Until now, Google says it was only able to show content from apps if the content was mirrored online.
Moving forward, search results will be able to reveal in-app content as well as online content. Moreover, Google will let people stream mobile apps so they can view that content even if the app is not installed on their phone.
Streaming apps requires WiFi, but will otherwise run the app as if it were installed, allowing people to fully make use of the in-app content such as booking hotels. Google will also supply links so people can install the streamed app if they so choose. Google says app streaming is based on a new technology that it is experimenting with.
Google is first streaming app content from a limited set of app partners, but it hopes to expand the functionality over time
