Comments on: Do@ Gets $7 Million to Try to Disrupt Mobile Search http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/ Mon, 20 May 2013 21:58:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Derek Kerton http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626335 Tue, 24 May 2011 23:29:18 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626335 From reading this, it seems like a decent search app. However…

I have a problem with the premise. The article is written with the false assumption that mobile search “…usually involves typing words into Google and then scrolling through a list of links.”

That’s just now how I search on my phone. Android offers voice search by default, so I often speak my search. And I add in “guide” words, like I’ll say (or type), “IMDB Mystic River”. The first search result is usually the exact link I need. And the fact that results are delivered in Google text-based links means that it is fast and lightweight on 2G or 3G. Why would I want to load up all those image-centric non-hits? In an era of 200MB data plans?

Next, you can search either Google, Yahoo, or Bing for sports teams, and the top mobile results are never web links, but rather scores and schedules.

Search Google for “85 fahrenheit in celsius” and get the answer.

Search google for “100 euros in dollars” and get the answer.

Search for “thor movie” and you’ll see the upcoming show times at theaters near you and ratings. Click the first result, the movie title, and get reviews, play trailer, a map of the nearby theaters, director and cast info, etc.

Are you joking that the results are just web links? The mobile web hasn’t looked that bad since 2006, when Yahoo Onesearch rolled out a mobile optimized service!

You see, I am finding the exact opposite trend of what the author here is citing. I am UNINSTALLING all kinds of apps that I formerly used, and just using Google voice search to lead to HTML or HTML5 results instead. My android device (by default), and my iOS devices have single-button shortcuts mapped to Google search, which makes finding a given app unnecessary. My Android has one-button voice search. Often I am just using Google to arrive at the same site (like IMDB, but a deep link), but just as often Google provides the full answer that I sought.

Here are some of the apps that I’ve uninstalled because it’s faster, more consistent, and equally satisfying to just Google:
- IMDB
- wikipedia
- news
- translator app
- maps, navigation software, NearbyNow
- Yellow Pages
- Weather
- Worldmate (time zones)
- SPB Traveler (currency converter, unit converter)
- Travel sites (flight lookups)
- Sports score apps
- Calculator

Great search kills (some) apps, not vice versa. It’s because they’re horizontal, familiar, not hidden on UI page 5, and fast.

]]> By: Adi http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626098 Tue, 24 May 2011 01:45:55 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626098 i tried it just now in my home wifi and i can say it’s pure crap!! searched for water park..tooooo slow even on wifi..what to say on 3G..are you guys out of your mind?? how many windows you are trying to open at once??

DELETED!

]]> By: ox http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626079 Mon, 23 May 2011 23:19:56 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626079 This is more of a searchme + mobile browser then a search engine type of product. The design seems solid but the value proposition is more user experience then relevance which has yet to work beyond bing’s approach. I do like for some odd reason the mutli-threading approach to app aided information discovery. The weakest thing here seems the business model given that the highest margin revenue will probably come from sponsored traffic / webpages.

]]> By: Dave http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626075 Mon, 23 May 2011 22:58:49 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626075 Too bad it does not appear to be available in Canada.

]]> By: Mathew Ingram http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626073 Mon, 23 May 2011 22:46:52 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626073 Thanks for that, Robert.

]]> By: Mathew Ingram http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626072 Mon, 23 May 2011 22:45:13 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626072 Thanks for the comment — I agree that Do@ will have to broaden itself to embrace the entire open web if it wants to achieve its full potential.

]]> By: El Marko http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626048 Mon, 23 May 2011 20:56:42 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626048 An app specific to any single mobile OS is likely to be far from “disruptive.” I’m going to take it a step further and say that if Do@ cannot deliver mobile search using a mobile web site, it’s not destined to disrupt much of anything. Last year it was iOS, this year it’s Android. Through it all, there’s been the mobile web. If mobile users cannot access a site, using any browser running on any mobile OS, then it’s just another app and destined to be lost in the “there’s-an-app-for-that” sea.

]]> By: Robert Scoble http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/do-gets-7-million-to-try-and-disrupt-mobile-search/#comment-626031 Mon, 23 May 2011 19:23:55 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=349136#comment-626031 Here’s an in-depth look at Do@ with the founder: http://youtu.be/iooQ1Jklm4s

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