Bing Builds Massive App-Linking Index

Bing is building a massive Index of apps and actions for Windows 10, Android and iOS. Microsoft recently laid out the framework, urging app developers to help lay the technical groundwork for the initiative. Deep-linking will help to strengthen support for search engine optimization and connections from one piece of content to another. 

Vincent Wehren, Bing product lead for Webmaster and Publisher Experiences, believes the model unlocks "tremendous" opportunities for app publishers. It will allow "many more to compete in crowded categories where usually a handful of category leaders dominate," he explains in a post.

The index expands work done on what Wehren calls Bing's Actions Intelligence powered search and technology stack, including Cortana, by building a massive index of apps and app actions. The model will allow app developers to use a standardized markup language on Web sites to help establish the link between the content and the app, as well as between content entities and actions the apps perform.

Bing will use two open standards to accomplish the task: App Links, and Schema.org. In the post, Wehren explains how to leverage the open standards and establish the required relationship between the Web URL and the app URI.

Making it easier to test the markup language, Bing also launched the tool Applinks Markup Tester. The tool shows marketers how Bing extracts the App Links data from the app or Web page and validates the link to help marketers get started.

Google and Facebook also have been working to build each company's respective index.

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