When someone says the term ‘search’ we tend to think of search engines and the reason they exist; which is to provide answers. However, the process largely encourages more searching upon more searching to find a specific piece of content or product.
With the Smartphone mobile market growing at a rapid rate (300 million Smartphones shipped in 2011) it is clear mobile is the emerging market.
Although Apple are not by any means the Smartphone leader by terms of OS (Android 31%, Symbian 29%, Apple 19%, Blackberry 14%, Microsoft 7%), they are the clear leader in terms of Applications with an App Store that boasts over 350,000 applications.
At a recent conference with Adobe Omniture it was mentioned that Google reported CTR was 8% higher when using a Smartphone for search.
Put two and two together and someone out there would think there was a clear opportunity to develop a combination of search and applications allowing users to find content without having to sift through the results search engines provide.
That’s exactly what Do@ (DoAT) have done.
What DoAT have highlighted with their remarkable application is the need for answers in a quicker and easier to digest fashion than search engines offer.
The app presents curated application based content in a multi-window view based on search queries, removing the whole concept of scanning SERP’s and clicking through to a single web page. This app offers a variety of choices that lead to clear answers for that query. The way in which this app presents that content is simple but brilliant particularly when searching for individual brands as highlighted in the video with Paris Hilton and Eminem.
This is a fantastic position that DoAT are in now, being able analyse their analytics and absorb everything users are searching for. Having the power of a search engine and all that data is an extremely profitable tool.
Will this application change the way in which we search for answers? I think so. You only have to go to the app store page for this app to see what users are already saying about it.
One user wrote, “The potential is nearly endless. I am beginning to replace google with this. I find myself searching for answers on my phone using this app instead my computer.”
Anyone that has read previous content on this site or follows me on Twitter will be aware that I am big on individual branding (the ‘me’ brand so to speak). I am 100% confident that individual brands are the future and that a merge between applications and individual brands will also arise in the next few years.
This application has opened a door to a new opportunity combining search and mobile. You can only expect Google will be ready to release something similar for Android in the near future, however, they’re already playing catch up.