Are mobile apps the killer apps that can bring down Google? As more and more mobile users are looking to specialized apps like Yelp! and Amazon instead of Google to help them find exactly what they’re looking for that could well happen.
It’s a phenomenon that rapidly picking up steam and was the subject of a recent article in the New York Times titled, As Web Search Goes Mobile, Competitors Chip at Google’s Lead, by Claire Cain Miller. Though Google’s hold on the Internet remains pretty firm, Miller points out a few signs that may be the beginning of the end of search as we know it.
Specialized Apps for Everyday Searches
Did you know that Amazon.com holds a bigger chunk of shopping searches than Google does? Amazon has long been known as the place to search for just about anything, which is why huge numbers of consumers are going directly to the e-commerce site without consulting Google first.
It’s big problem for Google and it’s getting bigger every year. According to the New York Times, a whopping 33% of Internet shoppers started their shopping searches with Amazon in 2012. That’s up from just 18% in 2009.
The same dynamic holds true for other traditional search engine strongholds like restaurant searches. Many consumers are now using specialty apps like Yelp to get straigh-from-the-horse’s mouth information Google can’t provide yet.
Don’t Bury Google Yet
Though mobile search apps are making a small dent in the Google empire, the massive search giant isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact (surprise, surprise) Google is adapting to the new reality by upping their game.
Most of us don’t pay much attention to Google’s Knowledge Graph, but the technology behind that is going to provide Google with the means to provide smarter, specialized search results. That’s exactly what they’ll need to compete with mobile search apps, as well as the Facebook Graph social search engine.
What it Means for Gambling
This slow shift is great news for gambling affiliates with a taste for mobile app development. With Google and Apple slow (very slowly) warming up to gambling apps and advertisements, as well as the rise of legal online gambling worldwide, the time could be right for a player-friendly, gambling oriented mobile search app.
If nothing else, this trend shows the way consumer search expectations are shifting from the standards set on the desktop PC, to the standards set by mobile.
Could mobile search apps mean the end of Google? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.