Mobile search iterative New play "in-app search" to solve the island of app information

Referring to "search", people's first impression is to click on the browser, open Google or Baidu, enter the content you want to search. Then find the link you need from the results of the search engine, and then jump to the new page to browse.

This mode of operation has been repeated countless times on PCs, and has become commonplace. However, if the process to move to the mobile phone, it seems less convenient.

One is because of the size of the screen, input methods such as limited mobile phone browser experience is not so good, the second is because the mobile phone has a lot of content is "hidden in" a variety of apps. So, is there a new way of searching that solves the problem of search on the phone? The answer is yes, it is "in-app search."

The core idea is that direct search of the content resources in the app, after you find it, users can automatically invoke the corresponding app to open the required resources. For example, a collection of the latest American drama, you can directly from the Sohu video to open to watch.

In fact, from the end of last year, the global search giant Google, as well as the domestic Qihoo 360 have issued a corresponding "application search" strategy. Baidu was earlier in 2012 for its own app resources for the application of search, but after not much action.

At present, the most vocal in the country is the pea pod. Pea Pods recently announced the first domestic launch of the application of the search technology agreement, called for Third-party applications to join. Peas pods also announced the compatibility of Google's app indexing agreement and the release of Quixey's appurl to expand its position.

After getting the B-round financing, pea pods are eager to get rid of the simple "application distribution Market" concept and start to tell the big story of "mobile search". However, search is a huge market, the start-up company's attempt to create a new road, or become the giants of the "stepping stone", it will take time to test.

Giants try to break through

Browser and app, who is the first portal to mobile Internet? The problem has been disputed for 3 years without a result. One thing for sure, though, is that browsers are unlikely to be the only search portals as they were in the PC era. As things go, apps are even more dominant.

On the PC side, Google, Baidu and other search giants firmly control the right to speak, based on the links between pages page rank algorithm to ensure that users can directly obtain comprehensive search information on the PC.

However, in mobile terminals such as smartphones, traditional web search patterns have been seriously challenged. As a result of mobile phone speed, page size, operation, and other restrictions, even if there is transcoding technology, web search content on the phone on the rendering effect is still far less than the client application, users are generally accustomed to access to all types of app in the relevant content.

Liu Yaping, vice president of Pea pod product design, is a firm app, and he thinks "apps are the basic unit of mobile Internet, and apps are the future of mobile internet." However, because of the effect of "information island" between different applications, the "application search" that realizes the application content to the user has emerged.

In fact, as early as the autumn of 2012, the domestic search giant Baidu began to search for mobile content layout, so far has launched a "Baidu Light Application" and "Application Search" two concepts.

Which Baidu lightweight application to build web-based Web App, search content directly rendering application information, and no need to download, direct use. The goal is to move apps through web apps to browsers.

In the application search, Baidu's initial focus is also limited in the Baidu Department of the app, users can search through the application of Baidu, to invoke the local installed love odd art, Baidu map and so on their own applications. Then began to broaden the scope, until the beginning of this year to support the invocation of more third-party apps.

On the other side, search engine giant Google is not idle, in December 2013, Google announced the launch of the application search market, released the IMDB, Wikipedia, including the formal support of 13 of Android applications in the content index, users in Google Mobile end of the input search content, Google will make a decision based on the content of the search, the local corresponding app will also be considered to provide the partner with the search engine download installation button.

Also look closely at the application search this piece of fat and 360, its official online at the end of January 2014 "Open in APP" function, trying to open up the situation in the mobile search field.

The rule of survival is "fast."

Traditional search giants have been tapping into application search, because of its strong appeal in the search field, at the same time holding the traditional content portal huge resource pool, more with other mobile internet players can not reach the wealth of the big, in this inch of gold, the fierce battle of the mobile search market, the giant monopoly, fight situation, although not yet arrived, but it has been difficult to avoid.

And once the application of distribution channels-pea pod, recently also in the application of search in the frequent action. If you want to grab a mobile-end content portal, it's not a long-term solution to just distributing applications.

"The basics of mobile internet are not the same as on the desktop Internet, with data saying that 80% of user time is now spent in apps, and we were aware of that opportunity four years ago." "Pea-Pod CEO Wang Junyu, in an interview with the 21st century economics reporter, explained that he wasn't trying to get away from applying the concept of distribution.

"Previous mobile phone assistants, application search and so on are paving the road for this goal, and application distribution is only one phase of our work." Wang Junyu said that because of the technology base, the basic unit has changed, the traditional search giant part of the accumulation may not be so useful, but Google, Baidu and so may be its traditional search in the field of the existing income model, the process of transformation has become more slow.

In the Face of Giants ' shadows, the survival rule of startups like pea pods is "fast."

"What we do in mobile content search is at home and even globally leading. From the introduction of application search, the establishment of the application of the gene pool, the release of applications to search and launch landing products, we have to maintain a step ahead or even more. Wang Junyu said, "The fast time advantage will eventually be converted into the advantages of data accumulation, time advantage may be pursued, the accumulation of data is not." ”

At the end of March, Pea Pods released the first domestic application of the search technology Agreement, the first to implement the application of search technology landing. According to the Pea Pod release agreement, it is not only compatible with Google's app indexing protocol, Quixey's app URL protocol, but also easier for developers.

Google's app deal with Quixey requires developers to set up one by one mapping relationships between apps and Web pages, in other words, only mobile-phone content, which is difficult to access without web-side apps. The application of pea pod in the technical agreement is not required.

Application developers need only three steps: Describe the contents of the application, submit content information to pea pods, make the application support externally, and access pea pods. According to the reporter understands, at present pea pod already with Youku, Sohu Video, Palm reads and so on 22 applications to reach the cooperation, and the future goal is will 14 billion applications all include.

Data from pea pods show that the January Pea Pod 4.0 release, its application search has been extended to applications, games, video, e-books, wallpaper and other categories, new category users up to 80 million, content consumption more than 800 million times.

Mobile Search Shuffle

The rapid change of technology brings not only the renewal of product experience, but also the innovation and subversion of thinking.

Although now pea pods are full of confidence in the application search layout, the fiery application of the search seems to be true to expectations, to bring a lot of expectations. However, in this rapidly changing era, who can guarantee when the next subversion occurs?

A few years ago mobile search market also appeared a group of aspiring Pathfinder [-2.36% Funds research report], such as the establishment of 2005, claiming to be the first mobile search in the field of appropriate search, such as mobile phone search vendors, such as Confucianism Leopard, easy to check, in the ascendant mobile search, they have also dreamed of becoming mobile end of the "Baidu", "Google , however, the reality proves that the development of technology and the powerful shocks from the Giants are quickly making them overwhelmed.

The future of the mobile search market, there seems to be still unlimited possibilities. On the one hand, with the further development of mobile Internet, mobile search forms must be more diverse, text search, voice search, image search, real search and other types of search will gradually become popular, vertical subdivision of the search market will break into the dark horse? There is no destiny.

On the other hand, micro-trust, micro-blog and other Super app's internal search in the integration of information, to adapt to the mobile phone social properties of the strength can not be underestimated, the mobile search market for the entrance of the war has just begun.

Another layer of risk comes from the browser's subversion of the app model. Although the debate has been inconclusive, browsers have always believed that as mobile browsers become more powerful and web apps are perfect, most of the scenarios are back in the browser.

So it remains to be seen how far this road can go in application search.

(Responsible editor: Lvguang)