Apple introduced App Store Short Links a few days ago, giving developers a way to promote their apps with easy to remember App Store URLs.
Provide a simple way for users to find your apps with easy-to-remember App Store Short Links. Using an AppStore.com URL that includes your app or company name, you can create links to a single app or all of your apps. These links are accessible worldwide and will automatically direct users to their country’s respective App Store or Mac App Store.
As noted by CNET, the feature made its public debut during a Super Bowl commercial for the upcoming movie Star Trek: Into Darkness.
At the end of the commercial, there is a promotion for the film’s companion app, directing viewers to AppStore.com/StarTrekApp. This link takes users to the app page in the App Store, functioning in the same way as the traditional itunes.apple.com link.
According to Apple’s Developer notes, the vanity URLs will be assigned to apps when they are submitted to the iTunes App Store or the Mac App Store.
As Apple points out, the shortened links are ideal for developers who want to share an app in a print ad, a TV or radio spot, an app trailer, or on a billboard.
The simple domain names can be directed towards individual apps or all of the apps a company produces. In demand names that result in naming conflicts will result in a search page, so Apple is encouraging developers to create unique names for apps to prevent future problems.
Though Apple has held the AppStore.com domain since shortly after the App Store debuted in 2008, the custom URLs mark the first time that Apple has put the domain to use.
Taken from:
Vanity URLs for AppStore.com Debut in Super Bowl Commercial [iOS Blog]