In a move to make the mobile search feature more attractive to users, Google had begun deep linking apps to its search results. Deep linking means a situation wherein, a user searching for some data which is publicly available in a website, the application of which is installed on their phone, gets to directly launch the relevant page of that app upon clicking on the search result. Earlier, when users clicked on such a search result, they were taken to the login page of the mobile version of the web page, in spite of the users having the respective app on their phone.
This means that since Facebook has partnered with Google to deep link its app, users looking for public information which is available on Facebook, can directly launch the page on their app through their search results page. Users will now no longer be directed to the Facebook mobile web page where they have to log in. This deep linking is a win win situation for all concerned. Google gets to improve its user experience, Facebook gets users who now spend more time on their app and users save time by bypassing the login process to see the information they have been looking for.
Google had launched its deep linking service, commonly known as ‘app indexing’ earlier in the year for some select few android apps. It was later extended to iOS too and now all developers get to index their app on Google which is a great way for them to get users to spend more time within the app.
With Google crawlers now allowed to crawl and index Facebook for android, speculations regarding a deal for the iOS app is also rife. Very soon, users from all operating system will be able to click through and go straight to the Facebook app.
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