Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search Engines

Chomp

| FREE | Chomp

Hello Chomp, Goodbye Android Market - Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search Engines

Given the massive number of apps now on both the iPhone and Android some people (especially tech bloggers) complain regularly about the “problem of app discovery.” In fact we don’t know if regular users are similarly vexed. But let’s assume they are. On Android in particular “app discovery” has been less than optimal. Now iPhone “app search engine” Chomp has introduced a version for Android that will help address the problem. Actually Chomp is more like “Yelp for the app store” and it’s been quite successful for iPhone users. The Android version could easily match that success. Users can either search via the PC site or the Android app itself. In my short time playing with the Chomp Android app I found the experience to be very good. The Chomp Android app allows you to browse or search, although search is emphasized over browsing. Chomp creates an inventory of all your installed apps and then invites you to review them. Beyond its general usability, Chomp’s reviews help differentiate it. Chomp also offers recommendations. App stores on the handset are the primary way that users discover new apps according to 2010 Nielsen survey data: According to Chomp’s own usage metrics, users mainly search for apps by function or category rather than by name. Chomp also says that the weekend is the time of greatest app search activity. Furthermore afternoon and evening tend to be the time of day with the greatest app search traffic. Recently Google introduced an online version of the Android market, which is considerably more usable than its smartphone-based equivalent (which itself has been recently upgraded). The great feature of the online Android Market site is the immediate “over the air” download (without syncing) once an app is selected. Amazon is accepting developer submissions for its own potentially distruptive Read More

blekko for Android

| FREE | blekko, inc.

Blekko Launches Mobile Apps For iPhone, Android - Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search Engines

I’ll expose my bias up front: I’m a fan of Blekko and its audacious project to make search better. Now the site that bought you the “spam clock,” has launched mobile apps for the iPhone and Android. It’s a logical and even necessary step for Blekko, given the strategic importance of mobile. Registered users can manage slashtags directly from the app, adding new sites for example. Users can also view “seo info” for sites as they can within Blekko on the web. I only played with it for a short while but quickly came to the conclusion that this is “version 1.” It’s not clear that Facebook Likes integration exists in these apps, although presumably it does if you’re signed in and have connected your Facebook account to Blekko on the PC. (That’s not an option yet in mobile.). In addition, one of the dominant mobile use cases, local information, seems a particular area of weakness for the Blekko mobile app. Paradoxically, however, the mobile version of Blekko is somewhat more “approachable” than the PC version and less a power user tool. In some respects slashtags and the personalization that Blekko offers are even better suited to the mobile search use case. Mobile could well be a way that Blekko popularizes itself to a larger audience, beyond the early adopters now using the site on the PC. Related posts: Read More

StumbleUpon

| FREE | StumbleUpon Inc.

StumbleUpon Becomes Android App Discovery Tool - Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search Engines

StumbleUpon, which these days calls itself a “discovery engine,” has integrated app discovery into its Android application’s repertoire. It takes into account a range of variables to make recommendations to individual users. Those include user preferences, interests and the choices of friends and other “like-minded users.” Once installed, you simply hit the StumbleUpon logo/button in the lower right corner of the app and you’re presented with a succession of third party app choices. Its suggestions were generally pretty good in my quick examination and use of the app. App discovery has become more challenging over time as both the iPhone and now Android have seen app catalogs grow. The iPhone has more than 300,000 apps, while Android now has over 100,000. However the Android Market badly lags iTunes in terms of apps presentation and overall usability. There are a number of third party sites and apps, such as Chomp for the iPhone or AppAware for Android, among others, which attempt to help people discover relevant and useful apps. Apple also offers its “genius” recommendations technology for apps within iTunes. One way that developers and publishers are getting their apps discovered and downloaded is through mobile advertising. This has become an increasingly popular way to expose people to relevant apps and drive adoption. Mobile ad network Millennial Media reported in September that 21% of the “destinations” for mobile campaigns on their network were “application downloads.” If the app stores were really working well, however, it would partially alleviate the need to resort to advertising to gain exposure. Read More

Wolfram Alpha Search

| FREE | Varner Labs

Wolfram Alpha App Coming To Android - Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search Engines

Wolfram Alpha announced a native Android app is on its way to the Google mobile operating system, Android. It is expected about a year after they introduced the Wolfram Alpha iPhone app. The launch date is October 6, 2010 and they are working with T-Mobile to launch the app. The app will be available for download on the T-Mobile Channel for download on the G2 and of course on the Android Market. It will work with devices running Android 1.6 and later. This time, Wolfram Alpha set the initial price to $1.99. Back when they first launched the iPhone version the price was $49.99, but they lowered it to $1.99 months later and offered refunds. Read More