The German company Xyologic has opened access to the beta version of its mobile search technology to iOS users. So now it covers not only Google Play, but also the App Store. Any user can use the new search, as well as get recommendations from the company itself, having familiarized themselves with the original charts and the showcase of Xyologic-promoted applications.
The task of the search, named by the company Xyo Mobile App Search, is very simple, explains Matthäus Krzykowski, co-founder of Xyologic: to help users figure out what they want to find in the app store when they themselves can’t figure it out. This problem, in his opinion, has not yet been solved by Apple and Google. They have, he says, a terrible search. The reason is that the search robots of these companies use a traditional browser mechanism that puts up high ratings based on a large number of incoming links. This method is ineffective in stores, because there are no incoming links from other, more relevant applications, and users are not looking for information, but programs. Given that they often do not know the name of the application, their search queries are vague. And this creates an additional problem. Xyologic calculated that from 75% to 80% of all requests sound like the categories “puzzle games” or “photography”. The remaining 10-15% are completely devoid of specifics: “cool games” or “new applications”. And only about 5% of users type in the specific name of the application or any brand.
The problem with the search is compounded by the fact that there is little available “shelf space”, and there is no sensible way of browsing.
“If you look at any app in iTunes right now, you’ll see the logo. Yes, he’s all sparkling, cool, but he doesn’t really talk about anything,” says Kryzekowski. – “In the App Store itself there are a couple of general categories and, in fact, everything. So the only way to find something cool in a store is to keep an eye on its showcase.”
Indexing content won’t solve the problem, he adds. It is for this reason that when creating Xyo Mobile App Search, developers have moved away from the usual categories that are used in the App Store and Google Play. They were replaced by App Interests and Game Interests. These categories are formed based on metadata, popularity, number of downloads, reviews, “social signals”, “general mood” and other factors.
At the moment, Xyologic has identified about 700 “application interests” and 100 “gaming interests”, but they cannot be seen immediately when entering the site. The title page shows only the most relevant “interests”, those that are most popular: zombie games, memory games, and so on
“Let’s say you are looking for some free game and, accordingly, choose “free games”. We know that everyone plays racing, so most likely, the sample of “free games” will include free racing games,” Kryzhekovsky explains how 700 thousand applications can be neatly distributed into 800 categories. – “That is, we focus mainly on the second search. Whatever you enter in the first case, we will offer alternatives (here this alternative was racing). It’s like coming to a restaurant, asking for wine and asking for advice on what to order with this wine. In other words, we start with something in common, we offer options – and this is exactly what users like.”
At the moment, the company is not ready to talk about the first results, because until yesterday, only Android owners could use this search service in beta mode. But the developers assure that they are happy. Apparently, they are satisfied with the result at the moment.