The App Search, which was formally released yesterday, but went live in the UK at the end of last year, following an initial release in the US., and is now accessible via a tab on the Yahoo homepage and helps users unearth apps based on the search terms they enter.
The company’s new search engine functions similarly to its web search, using keywords and search terms, the app search facility will crawl a database of more than half a million officially sanctioned apps for either of the two dominant smartphone operating platforms the iPhone and Android apps.
Yahoo noted that its newly unveiled search app engine will return search matches for both platforms, depending on the OS filter selected, after sifting through more than 350,000 apps available in the Apple App Store and 200,000-plus titles in the Android Market.
In addition the App Search results page that is being filtered by device, then lists any matching titles, offering a description, price details, overall star rating from other users, screenshot and relevant links, which can be further refined by whether they are free or paid-for, and category.
Besides, independent tabs have been included to aid discovery, such as Top Trending, Top Free, Top Paid and Most Reviewed apps. Feedback and ratings can be left for any apps used.
James Gammon, Yahoo! search product marketing manager said: “Yahoo! App Search not only streamlines it to find and download apps that you are looking for but also discover new apps.”
Once decided to download a particular app, users can either click “send app to phone” to receive an SMS from Yahoo containing a link to download the app. Alternatively they can access direct links to iTunes or the Android Market, or scan QR codes in the App Search results to start downloading the app straight away.
Yahoo is also “looking at” bundling the BlackBerry World portal in the search results, as well as providing a standalone iPad app, a company spokeswoman told ZDNet UK. However, she could not confirm whether the search engine will be extended to other platforms, such as Windows Phone.
In May last year, Google introduced a similar service that allowed advertisers to insert direct links to where their mobile apps could be downloaded from in their paid-for ad formats. It followed this in July with another update that introduced book and film rental, and purchase options.
Moreover, advertisers can also publicize their apps by bidding on relevant keywords with the ads being returned next to the organic results.