Consumers should expect Google to “aggressively” ensure apps are easy to find via the company’s search engine, according to Patrick Pichette, Google SVP and CFO (pictured).

Responding to a question during Google’s second quarter results call about when app content will start to appear in core search results, Pichette said people spend a lot of time in apps on smartphones, making it important that “we provide the content that users are looking for”.

The executive said Google will make sure app indexing, in which deep links to apps are included in search results, is “available and easily accessible across devices”. This will mean the company provides the most relevant answers to search queries which “in certain cases happens to be the app”.

In terms of generating revenue through app indexing, Pichette said “it’s not unlike any revenue we create in search”, in that it allows the company to create advertising opportunities where people are searching.

First announced at the Google I/O developer conference in June, the App Indexing API was recently added to Google Play Services, enabling developers to inform Google about deep links in native apps so their details are given as instant search suggestions, giving consumers quick access to the inner content of apps.

Nikesh Arora, SVP and chief business officer, said app deep linking and search should “help developers re-engage users, who have already downloaded their app, better targeting options in AdMob”.