Will Mobile Apps Be Google’s Failure?

Ajay Prasad

Google is by far the most popular search engine and based on data gathered by Statistic Brain, the average number of daily searches in 2012 was 5,134,000,000. Revenue hit $50 billion during that year and founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin celebrated Google's 14th birthday.

Despite the fact that a large portion of Internet users turn to this search engine to find virtually anything on the web, it seems that smartphone users are spending more time on apps. Approximately 80% of mobile consumer time is spent using applications, such as:

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Kindle
  • Skype
  • eBay
  • Amazon
  • Kayak

It's not just social networking apps that prove popular, because 32% of mobile consumer time is spent on gaming, 12% on the Safari browser and 8% on entertainment. This isn't even counting news and productivity statistics. So, will Google suffer a setback as a result of dominant mobile apps?

Well, Google's global mobile search market share is in the region of 95% and Google is quickly conforming to the ever-changing trends in technology. By integrating the search box into the home screen of most Android devices, smartphone users can easily browse the web. Search engine users can now gain fast answers and fewer weblinks, making the process far less time consuming.

A person's behavior differs when using a PC. Smartphone/tablet users are more inclined to use devices than a computer when going online. Publishers are capitalizing on this shift by avoiding the dreaded Google algorithm changes. To make things worse for Google, Apple has been raking in profits from the search engine's misfortune.

The misfortune stems from China, where the Chinese government have restricted access to Google. This prevents Google from exposing online apps around the country, which gives Apple the chance to attract attention with over 900,000 applications. The number of iPhone App Store applications surmounts the 700,000 available in Android's Google Play Store.

Nevertheless, Google is benefiting from mobile advertiser growth. The number of smartphone users in the world has exceeded 3 billion and U.S. mobile advertising is predicted to hit $10.8 billion by 2016. This means that Google will continue to reap the rewards from emerging trends.

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Ajay Prasad

Ajay Prasad is the Founder and President of GMR Web Team, a leading healthcare digital marketing agency. He guides small and medium size healthcare practices/businesses in customizing their online marketing strategy, focused on building a loyal base of patients and improving their patient acquisition. Ajay believes in an improved patient experience as the key to successful healthcare business, which can be accomplished with the right marketing plan in place.


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