That’s not a typo in the headline; Google has updated its mobile search engine so that people who run a search from their iPhone will be provided with a list of matching apps.
Of course, Google does not have access to the full listings on the iPhone’s app store, but there are plenty of Web sites out there that provide the information for the search giant.
So if someone does a standard Google search for “Bank of America” on an iPhone, one of the top results will be the bank’s iPhone app, with a direct link to the App Store page.
This update should be accepted with open arms among iPhone owners that have had to grapple with a less-than-stellar search tool in the App Store, making it difficult to find their way through the thousands of available downloads.
The update also affects Android users. Running a search from any Android phone will provide the same kind of results, but it will search through the Android Market instead. Interestingly, a search for something like “organization app” directly from the Android Market will have differently-sorted results than what appears when the same search is entered through Google.
Bottom line: people use Google to search for everything, so why not mobile apps too?
