Thursday, March 12, 2015
Best practices for launching your Marketplace app
Next week, we’ll be hosting a webinar detailing best practices for a successful launch in the Marketplace. We’ll cover the most critical tactics for generating installs of your app based on our learnings from apps that have already launched. We’ll also cover some of the extras you may want to consider to get added mileage out of your launch, as well as ongoing marketing tactics for you to pursue.
Whether you’re totally unfamiliar with the Marketplace, currently developing an app, or have already launched an app in the Marketplace, this webinar should help you maximize your chances of successfully launching an app in the Marketplace. Please join us!
Best practices for a successful launch in the Google Apps Marketplace
Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 10:00 a.m. PDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT / 6:00 p.m. London
Register here for the Webinar.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Enabling Single Sign on with OpenID for the Google Apps Marketplace
We chose to power our Single Sign On (SSO) using OpenID because it’s the predominant open standard for federated identity on the web. The protocol is supported by a large number of OpenID identity providers and many sites around the web accept it. And to make Single Sign On easy to access, Marketplace apps also plug in to both the universal navigation bar inside Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Sites, as well as the administrative control panel.
<Extension id="navLink" type="link">
<Name>Amazing Cloud App</Name>
<Url>http://www.example.com/home.php?domain=${DOMAIN_NAME}</Url>
</Extension>
<Extension id="realm" type="openIdRealm">
<Url>http://www.example.com</Url>
</Extension>
With this XML in the application manifest, a link called “Amazing Cloud App” will appear in the universal navigation of all Google Apps. Also, if one of the realms specified in the manifest file precisely matches the openid.realm in the OpenID request, then the user will be seamlessly signed into the app after clicking on the link in the universal navigation (without seeing a typical OpenID interstitial allow/deny page).
Of course, you’ll also need code in your application which accepts OpenID logins. In addition to open source libraries, here are a few companies that are making it easier for cloud applications to integrate with the Google Apps Marketplace. Their code provides simple APIs with which developers can integrate, leaving some of the complexities of the OpenID protocol to be implemented by the experts -- no need to hand-roll your own OpenID code.
- JanRain
JanRain’s open source PHP and Ruby OpenID libraries and on-demand RPX solution enabled the implemention of OpenID for many of the companies that launched on the Google Apps Marketplace by writing simple code or web service calls. - Ping Identity
Ping’s PingFederate is an on-premise service that allows SaaS applications to easily accept OpenID and SAML-based logins by integrating with their libraries or using their web server or application server plug-ins. - TriCipher
TriCipher’s myOneLogin Identity Services is an on-demand application that allows developers to accept OpenID, SAML and other federation protocols by writing simple web service calls.
Their are plenty of open source OpenID libraries available for other platforms, such as OpenID4Java (using Step2 code for Google Apps) and DotNetOpenAuth. More information on implementing Single Sign On in Google Apps Marketplace apps can be found on code.google.com.
If you need additional information on building apps for the Google Apps Marketplace, see the Developer’s Overivew on code.google.com.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Update on Marketplace Billing API
For the next version, we’re working on making the billing features both easier to integrate with and easier for customers to use. Additional changes will enable us to innovate faster with expanded country support, payment options, and other exciting features due later on. Version 2 of the licensing API will continue to be supported throughout these changes.
Developers using the preview implementation can continue to do so until the new version is available and customers are transitioned. Those just getting started with the Marketplace are encouraged to use their own payment solution until the new version is available.
Please let us know if you have any questions by posting in the Google Apps Marketplace API forum.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Improved Analytics New Staff Picks Section on the Apps Marketplace
Like any Google service, we’re always working to refine the Google Apps Marketplace for our vendors and their customers. Normally we make small, incremental improvements and let the better experience speak for itself, but this week we think several of the new features are noteworthy enough to point out.
View Enhanced Analytics
A frequently requested feature has been improved analytics. If you have Google Analytics configured for your listing, your analytics profile will now receive the search terms and category selected by your customers.
When a customer searches on the Marketplace, the search results will all have two parameters attached: query and category. You’ll want to add these terms to your Google Analytics Website Profile. The query term will include all of the search terms the user entered into the search box, or it could be blank if the customer found your application through browsing. Similarly, the category parameter will be blank unless the customer narrowed his search or browse by picking the category you chose in your application listing, e.g. Accounting & Finance. Now you’ll have much better data about how a customer has reached your application, whether through browsing, searching, or a combination.
Count Installs
Another developer-focused enhancement we’ve made is adding a count of installs and uninstalls on each application’s listing when signed into the vendor account:
"Net install count" represents the number of current installs -- any uninstalls have already been deducted. If you add "Net install count" to "Uninstall count" you will have the total number of installations for the app since it launched. You are also able to retrieve this information from the Licensing API, but it is nice to have it easily accessible on your listing pages.
Sweep Away Those Dusty Apps
On the Vendor Profile page you’ll also that we’ve added the ability to hide unused applications (and show them again) so that you can manage your applications better and remove clutter on your dashboard. You still cannot delete applications, but you can sweep them under the rug! Note that Hiding and Unhiding are just for managing your list as a Vendor -- they do not change your Publish/Unpublish settings for each app. You can hide a published app as easily as an unpublished app.
Browse Staff Picks on the Home Page
Since announcing the Staff Picks program in May, we’ve featured a number of especially well-integrated and innovative applications on the @GoogleAtWork twitter stream and here on the Google Apps Developer Blog. Now we also feature Staff Picks on the front page of the Marketplace.
You can find four Staff Picks on the Marketplace landing page, chosen from the pool of apps selected as staff picks. See the Staff Picks page on code.google.com for more information on how we choose these apps.
 | Andy "Rufus" Rothfusz blog Rufus is a Developer Programs Engineer working on Google Apps APIs and the Google Apps Marketplace. He has over 14 years of experience in developer programs covering a wide range of applications including 3D graphics acceleration, natural language processing, device security, video games and video streaming. |
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Drive Google Apps Marketplace installs from your site
To increase the discovery of your Google Apps Marketplace listings, you can now embed an Integrate with Google button on your website, marketing pages, blog posts, and other properties. This lets domain administrators install your apps with a single click without leaving your site. Once they click the button, administrators can enable your app for all users (or just some of them) just like they would from the Google Apps Marketplace.
Here’s what the Integrate with Google button looks like on CloudLock.com:
To put the Integrate with Google button on your site, just embed the code below anywhere you want to display the button:
<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script>Check out the developer documentation to start integrating today.
<div class="g-additnow" data-applicationid="your-app-id"></div>
 | Hiranmoy Saha Google+ Hiranmoy Saha is a Software Engineer working on the Google Apps Ecosystem. |