You can now install apps directly from Google search, maybe

Its new feature is exciting for Android developers, but they’ll have to be aware of a few restrictions.

Whether to reward their loyal patrons or attract new users and promote their apps, the developers now have the luxury to offer promo codes via the Google Play Developer Console. The 500-code limit includes any combination of app giveaways or in-app promos, though unused codes don’t carry over to the next quarter.

Details of how promo codes work can be found on the Developer Console help pages, and from here we learn that developers have the option of setting expiry dates for the codes they create.

Android developers had been using their own workarounds for years, but that often took time and effort that could be spent on the application, so this will be a welcome change for them. The convenience it gives us, no matter how small, is still something.

Facebook’s main argument for why its mobile app install ads are so powerful for developers is that they can target the audience based on Facebook’s information about users.

According to Google itself, the promo codes that will come through the Play Store pipeline will provide developers with a better way of rewarding a limited number of users with premium content or new features.

For quite some time now, Google has been displaying links to the Play Store on Android and to the iOS App Store on mobile Safari for the iPhone users. You can use the URL: https://play.google.com/store?code= (where is a generated promo code). The new method may not sound like a huge difference from the old one, but it’s kind of awesome that Google has made a way for Android users to install apps directly from a web search.

App users can get a hold of the special items by unlocking them with the given code. You can use promo codes in many ways to creatively engage with users. The total capacity is about 25,000 people, which would allow for an additional 7,000 developers to attend the Mountain View event. Despite how much it has branched out over the years, the core of Google’s business remains in search (and the ad system that supports it).