The latest ASO news from Google I/O 2022

App Store Optimization (ASO)

June 14, 2022

Earlier this month, Google held its yearly event. The main announcements were about Android 13 and the new devices coming soon (like the Pixel 7 and the Pixel Watch), but there were still some interesting tidbits for ASO professionals. 

Some news about LiveOps

If you haven’t heard about LiveOps yet, it’s Google’s version of Apple’s in-app events. It allows developers to submit content for featuring in the Play Store (such as updates, in-app events, and limited-time offers). They are still in beta for now, and no launching date has been announced so far. According to current beta users, LiveOps is a pretty successful feature that can drive 5% more users to apps and 4% higher revenue compared to apps that don’t use the feature.

source: Google

While Google did not announce an official launch date, they did promise new features for LiveOps. Notably, a new LiveOps type called Offers, where you could set up events for discounts, free rewards, or subscription trials.

You can also now use deep links in LiveOps to bring users exactly where you want them inside your app or game. That’ll be sure to boost conversions. You’ll also have access to brand-new reporting dashboards to view all the insights about your ongoing LiveOps (more kinds of data are coming later).

source: Google

If you’re interested in trying out these new LiveOps features, you need to contact Google to become a beta tester (you can do so here). 

Hello Custom Store Listing!

Following Apple’s footsteps, Google is also launching Custom Store Listing. It’s clearly a direct answer to Apple’s Custom Product Page. It was already possible to create up to 5 custom listing pages on the Play Store, mostly used for localization purposes. 

source: Google

However, this feature has been further developed according to Google’s I/O. You can now create up to 50 custom store listings (more than Apple’s 35), and each page will have its own analytics and deep links.

source: Google

So now, instead of relying solely on country, install state or google ads campaign, you can also use direct URLs (which are entirely customizable). Great news for UA campaigns! 

Some more information on these custom app listings:

  • You can customize the app’s name, the icon, the descriptions, visual assets, and default language
  • You can also customize your custom listing’s URL, it will look like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=[packageName]&listing=[parameter]
  • Your app’s category, privacy policy, and contact details will be shared across all versions. 
  • One custom listing can target multiple countries, but each country can only be targeted with one custom listing at a time

If you’re wondering how to create a custom store listing, we explain everything right here

Other Play Store announcements

Lately, Google has been all about improving the experience of tablet users. In addition to featuring only apps optimized for tablets, the Play Store’s looks on tablets and foldables will be updated.

The other announcements include:

  • A new Play Console page where you can access all the information and tools for all your deep links in one place
  • Improvements of Google’s Store Listing Experiments (their A/B testing features) including quicker results, more transparency, and more control
  • Google’s In-App Updates API will let developers know about available updates within 15 minutes instead of 24 hours
  • Expanded pricing options with ultra-low price points (as low as 5 US cents) to help you reach users in emerging markets
  • Developers can now offer users the ability to subscribe via prepaid plans
  • The launch of the Google Play SDK Index that lists over 100 popular SDK (and the app permissions they need)
  • An in-app messaging API that reminds users to update their payment information

That’s all for the ASO-centric announcements of Google’s I/O 2022. We’ll just have to wait and see for more information on those features (including launch dates). 

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