Google attempts to woo developers with new Chrome Web Store features

Google has announced it will now provide developers with in-depth statistics about how their apps are performing in its Chrome Web Store, in its latest attempt to lure developers from arch rival Apple.

In a blog titled The Chromium Blog, developer advocate Joe Marini said Google’s Chrome Web Store team has introduced new features to help developers reach and engage with more users.

“One of the common requests we’ve received from developers is that they’d like better insight into how well their apps are doing in the store,” Marini said.

“Many of you would especially like to know how many times your apps and extensions are being viewed versus how many installations are occurring.”

“To help you with your data needs, we’ve created a new graph view to help you understand the performance of your apps.”

In order to make the data more accessible, it can be downloaded as a CSV file. Currently, the Chrome Web Store provides 90 days of history information.

“In the near future, we plan to further refine this feature,” Marini said.

“For example, we may increase the historical period for which data is available and add other features to help you understand how your apps are being adopted.”

Access to data wasn’t the only announcement made in the blog. Marini was quick to point out Google recently launched the Chrome Web Store in six additional countries.

These are Turkey, Ukraine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

“To be successful in these new markets, we highly recommend localising your apps in as many languages as possible. This will make them… more likely to be promoted,” Marini said.

Google also announced the introduction of a new offline apps collection. Among the apps currently highlighted in this section are Angry Birds and the NYTimes.

“To recognise developers who have made their apps work offline – and help users find them – we created a special collection just to highlight them in the store,” Marini said.

“If you are a developer, getting your app listed in this collection is as simple as adding the offline-enabled flag to your app’s manifest file.”

Google is becoming increasingly determined to appeal to developers, but is facing an uphill battle as rival Apple continues to dominate the market with unprecedented growth.

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week, chief executive Tim Cook highlighted the true extent of Apple’s reach.

Cook said Apple’s App Store has around 650,000 apps and 400 million registered credit card accounts. So far, 30 billion applications have been downloaded.

A sum of US$5 billion has been paid to app developers by Apple. And, according to Cook, the numbers are tipped to grow as the App Store extends its reach from 120 countries to 152.