Google Injects App Activities Into Search To Push Google+ Sign-In

Google has rolled more Google+ functionality into search results, injecting app activity so as to give examples of user preferences alongside searches for sites and apps. The new feature will be rolled out to desktop search users "over the next few weeks", Google says, and initially with a limited number of music and movie apps including Slacker Radio and Deezer.

There'll also be Fandango, Flixster, Songza, SoundCloud, and TuneIn support from launch. However, Google says that more apps will be added "over time" in addition to other tweaks to the preview system.

Google is billing the feature as a way for potential app users to see how the software is actually used, with a glimpse into what existing users are doing expected to make it clearer as to whether it would actually be useful or not. So, if you search for SoundCloud, it will not only show how many followers on Google+ the app has, but show which particular audio has been most popular recently.

For movie apps, meanwhile, such as Fandango, there'll be a list of popular films; clicking one will jump straight to that movie's page in the app.

Of course, this is also designed to encourage more developers to add Google+ Sign-In support to their apps, the secure login system Google unveiled back in February. The system is similar to Facebook Connect, only attempting to make Google+ the ubiquitous credentials that log users in across the web.