In the update protocol, there is a protocol element that allows the client to pass additional parameters in the update check. Please see the description of the "tag" attribute in the Omaha server protocol: https://github.com/google/omaha/blob/wiki/ServerProtocolV3.md#app-request
tag: An field for a client to transmit arbitrary update parameters in string form. Compatible clients and servers MAY use this attribute to negotiate special update rules. Alternatively, they MAY extend the protocol to represent the information more clearly in another parameter. As an example, Omaha Client uses this field to transmit whether a Google Chrome installation is on the "stable", "dev", or "beta" channel, which affects how the server issues update responses for that installation. Default: "".
The feature request is for the component updater to implement this protocol feature.
Comment 1 by bugdroid1@chromium.org
, Apr 8 2016