This article was published on September 20, 2012

Amazon will feature select apps in ‘Billboards’ on the new Kindle Fire tablets


Amazon will feature select apps in ‘Billboards’ on the new Kindle Fire tablets

One of the key drivers for success for any mobile app developer is discoverability: potential customers or users actually being able to find their app(s) in one of the many mobile app stores out there – especially the major ones.

Amazon, for one, is going to increase visibility for select apps on its all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD tablets, the company announced on its blog today.

A new feature dubbed ‘Billboards’, which leaves little to the imagination, will make use of imagery on the new devices to help users discover new applications.

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From the blog post:

In a similar fashion to how large outdoor billboards are designed to catch the eye, our Billboards feature makes use of engaging imagery on the all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD storefront to introduce customers to new apps.

You may remember that, in late August, Amazon started accepting images from app developers and publishers to be used in what it then called ‘featured placements’ to more effectively market them to end users.

Amazon is asking developers to submit PNG or JPG images through the Mobile App Distribution Portal and stick to 1024×500 pixels in size.

The company will itself curate its selection of apps and choose which ones get featured in the new ‘Billboards’ with the new promotional imagery.

When users visit Amazon’s app storefront on the new Kindle Fire tablets, they will see multiple scrollable billboards at the top of their screen, each serving as an immediate entry point to the app’s detail page.

There, of course, or she can download or buy the app.

Evidently, getting prominently featured on the Amazon’s mobile app storefront can make a huge difference for app developers and publishers, so it will be interesting to see how the company goes about the selection and curation of the applications it chooses to promote via the ‘Billboards’.

Also see:

Here’s what the new gaming experience on Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets will look like

Amazon Appstore launches in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain ahead of possible tablet launch

(Image Credit: GOH CHAI HIN for AFP / Getty Images)

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