Google Play Points

What are Google Play Points

Google Play Points are part of an award system whereby Google Play users earn points on their regular behavior in the Google Play store. Examples include making purchases or downloading featured free apps/games from a rotating list and taking part in weekly promotions.
As users accumulate points, they can choose whether to: 

• Exchange them for credit to be used in the play store.
• Donate them to nonprofit organizations. 
• Or spend them on special items / discounts inside games / apps. 

As a reward system it follows the same format as most: there are four tiers to climb- Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum- and they each offer increasing perks like bonus points and discounts on purchases in game. The incentive for the user is to earn as many points as they can in order to reach each tier level, so for every dollar spent they earn more points that they can spend. The incentive for the app developer / marketer to join the program is a likely increase in traffic, discoverability and growth.  

App developers / marketers must be accepted onto the program but users can join for free. 

Why Google Play Points are Important

App developers who participate in the reward scheme can improve their conversion rate (CVR) because users know they will get more points and see more value from installing a game or purchasing items inside it (in-app purchases.) As active users are encouraged to spend (through discounts and sales) on paid apps, this is good news for any app that has in-app purchases or download costs.

Google Play Points and ASO

App developers / marketers should always be looking for ways to showcase their app in light of ASO. Being part of the points system brings a lot to optimize on a listing. By highlighting in an app’s messaging / creatives any new in-game experience that will result in points can drive more users to convert. 

It’s also possible to add to an app’s description in the listing that it’s part of the program, so by doing so an app could rank for ‘Play Points’ and other similar keywords to improve organic search traffic. 
Getting featured can help drive traffic that converts installs; apps on any ‘Play Points Featured’ lists can be worth extra Play Points, so appearing on them puts an app in good stead.