Sunnyvale, California — Finding mobile apps just got easier as the Internet pioneer Yahoo over the weekend unveiled a new tool dubbed as Apps Search, an addition to its web site and a first for a major search engine that promises to be a “fun, fast way to search and discover” the hundreds of thousands apps available from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market.
Yahoo is expanding its search arm to assist people find the right mobile applications and information about them. It has also unfurled a similar app for smartphones, called AppSpot, to search and install apps. Both Apps Search and AppSpot target mobile apps that reside on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market.
“Yahoo! Mobile is unleashing a fun, fast way to search and unearth mobile apps. Yahoo! AppSpot, a new mobile application, works like a flashlight in the darkness of more than 425,000-plus apps in the Apple App Store and 200,000 apps in Android Market,” Anil Panguluri, Yahoo Product Director of Mobile Search, said in a statement.
“Yahoo’s AppSpot unfurls an innovative way to take the guesswork out of finding relevant and interesting apps for mobile users.” If you would rather not download the app onto your mobile device, you can also search via your browser at Yahoo App Search.
Yahoo’s new AppSpot app. (Credit: Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)
Both the new App search feature and the mobile search tools can be adopted to seek applications for iPhone and Android devices, although the company expects to expand that scope in the future. Besides, Yahoo is planning to expand the capabilities of its search function and smartphone app to include apps for BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, and other platforms, and possibly for tablets as well.
Yahoo is moving forward into an opening it can fill, since it does not offer a platform like its rivals. Of course, there is nothing stopping Yahoo from upgrading its search tools, but at this moment in the smartphone wars Yahoo plans to be a neutral middleman for now.
Yahoo Senior Vice President Shashi Seth told news media that his company’s search logs indicated users are increasingly using and searching for apps, so “it was time to consolidate apps into our search products.”
So how does AppSpot differ from the most popular and featured apps you can already find in both app markets? The app detects matching app titles and provides description, price, screenshots, and overall star rating from users. It also delivers daily suggestions based on what users have already downloaded.
Currently, Yahoo has arranged the mobile application catalog of the Android Market and of the Apple App Store, and is convinced that it can do a better job than the search tools of those two online shops. The app also comes in a computer-based version.
“Their search is good, but it is not best-of-breed,” said Seth. Finding information about mobile applications, like descriptions, ratings, reviews and recommendations, is at a rudimentary stage similar to web search in the mid-1990s, he added.
According to Yahoo, “Unlike ‘Top Apps’ lists that provide the same apps day after day, you will get new, personalized app suggestions on a daily basis, so you are always abreast with the latest, most interesting, and relevant apps.”
The way Yahoo perceives, many people today struggle to find the right mobile application among the hundreds of thousands available for Android and iPhone devices. So, with your permission, Yahoo skims your current app library and notes previous app searches to deliver relevant results. You can also search for apps in 20 different categories, like Health, Travel, Photography, and Navigation.
The concept is not completely unique as you will find similar offerings from smaller app discovery apps like Chomp and AppsFire, but you might find different results with one powered by a major search company. Additionally, Yahoo will be competing with GetJar, which commenced its app shop in 2005 and touts itself as the world’s largest open app store.
For now, Yahoo’s role is to be the middleman. But, if it faces more demand, Yahoo may also later incorporate in App Search information and links to Web applications for desktop browsers, such as the tens of thousands that have been created for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Seth said.
Furthermore, the actual shopping and downloading will take place in the app stores of Apple, Google or other platforms. Apple accordingly will pay Yahoo a five percent fee for sales resulting from its search. It is not clear what, if any, cut Google will provide.
Watch Yahoo’s video demo of AppSpot: