ITWire

If those apps use ad networks operated by the same company as the search engine, the latter will still gain a share of the revenue. But if they go elsewhere - eg, to Apple's iAd for the iPhone/iPad - the search engine operator isn't just passing up a revenue opportunity, it's handing it to a competitor.

But given that one of the problems with the (iOS) App Store is finding products in the first place (niche products can easily be buried by popular ones), the idea does have merit providing the companies are prepared to be altruistic. It wouldn't be very helpful if Bing only returned Windows Phone 7 apps, for example.

And if they were going to do it for mobile apps, why not include desktop software too? Admittedly there's less chance that there would be a program that corresponds to a search request, but there are examples. For instance, someone using a Mac to search for "weather forecast australia" might benefit from seeing links to TheBOM Weather Widget and similar pieces of software.