Google iPhone usage shocks search giant

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google on Wednesday said it has seen 50 times more search requests coming from Apple iPhones than any other mobile handset -- a revelation so astonishing that the company originally suspected it had made an error culling its own data.



"We thought it was a mistake and made our engineers check the logs again," Vic Gundotra, head of GoogleÂ?s mobile operations told the Financial Times during this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.



Should other companies follow in Apple's footsteps by making web access commonplace on their mobile handsets, Gundotra believes the number of mobile searches could outpace fixed internet search "within the next several years."



That of course means big increases in incremental advertising revenues for the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant. Though Google's primary revenue driver remains online advertising, the company has never separated out its mobile revenues from those of traditional computer-based browsers.



Gundotra, however, told the Times that the mobile segment was growing Â?above expectationsÂ?, both in terms of usage and revenues.



"The world is changing. Users want an internet without fences. They know how to type in Google.com if they want to get to it," he said. "Two years ago the operators were still playing the role of gateÂ*keepers but that is no longer the role for them."



The mobile boss also reiterated a long-running company position on the mobile handset market, which is that Google is unlikely to build its own mobile hardware despite widespread speculation to the contrary.



"We want every phone to be a Google phone," he said. "We are ultimately talking about thousands of devices. The best way to do this would beÂ*to get GoogleÂ?s mobile operating system, Android, deployed on as many types of handsets as possible."



Google has the first Android-based mobile handsets from third-party manufacturers would begin shipping during the second half of 2008.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 56
    The world is going mobile - FAST!!! It's good to see Apple pioneering in this area where others have tried and failed.
  • Reply 2 of 56
    I just had an argument with some cavemen last night (that's what i call non iphoners since they're living in the stone age. They said, why would i ever care to have the internet on my phone, I said you do have the internet on your phone you just don't know how to use it cause it's so damn confusing, i never had a need for the internet on my phone either until i realized how easy and fun it is to use on the iphone, now i couldn't live without it, it's the genious of apple. but overall, haha 50 times as much search on google for iphones than for any other phone, 50 times for a company that has only 25% of the smartphone market, WOW
  • Reply 3 of 56
    bjkbjk Posts: 34member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mpspence View Post


    I just had an argument with some cavemen last night (that's what i call non iphoners since they're living in the stone age.)



    That's funny, I say the same thing!

    I really like to make fun of the blackberry's trackwheel/ball.



    Does that make me an apple elitist?
  • Reply 4 of 56
    The interesting thing as a google shareholder is that they actually stand to make money off the iPhone searches where they don't on a blackberry (as well as many other phones with smaller screens). The real-estate problems of "normal" display make it a nuisance like banner ads when viewing on a small/fixed scale display.



    Websites properly tailored to mobile devices really need to be careful of putting in too many display ads. I have given up on AI for browsing from the iPhone, along with a few other of my "regular" sites.
  • Reply 5 of 56
    GREAT SUCCESS!!!



  • Reply 6 of 56
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    I wonder if they differentiate between the iPod Touch and the iPhone. Probably not. I don't think Android is going to have nearly the effect they think it will for that reason. Having an iPod Touch in your pocket is like having the tiniest, lightest laptop you can imagine with you all the time. I have one of the cheaper phones my service provider threw in almost free in my other pocket.
  • Reply 7 of 56
    I wondered the same thing about differentiating between the iPhone and iPod Touch - if they don't I would think the Touch would boost numbers considerably. And if they do differentiate then the numbers should be higher.



    Until the Touch came on the seen I had no thought to surf using an iPod. Recently while waiting for a flight out of Quito, Ecuador I used my Touch and Quito's FREE WI-WI (thank you Quito - wake up US airports!) to Google weather at Chicago O'Hare. A terrific feature and I didn't need any cumbersome laptop.
  • Reply 8 of 56
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post


    Websites properly tailored to mobile devices really need to be careful of putting in too many display ads. I have given up on AI for browsing from the iPhone, along with a few other of my "regular" sites.



    It's ironic that the iPhone's ease of use, use of WebKit and large display allowed it view webpages on a phone without being altered, yet the popularity and convenience of using it has made many a site create special iPhone web portals?and now add WebClip icons?to their site for even easier use.



    Say what you will about Apple decision about carrier lock in, the OS and UI are unparalleled and revolutionary. Even Android is using Mobile OS X as a template for it's design decisions.



    PS: AI needs to get on the ball with an "optimized for iPhone" portal for the articles and forums, as well as a WebClip icon.
  • Reply 9 of 56
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    I'll admit to researching Android very little beyond the first few days. But Android seems to be less a "complete mobile platform" like mobile OS X is, then a platform to speed the creation OF complete mobile platforms, tailored to whatever different hardware people may come up with. Phone and OS makers can flesh it out however they wish and have the basis for a quality result (or not, depending on their choices and on the hardware). That's cool and I'm glad Android is out there. I hope it goes places and fosters innovation and competition in both software and hardware. And it uses WebKit (a.k.a.) Safari for its browser engine, which is a good trend for mobile OS X users.



    But it sounds like when companies create versions of Android on different hardware devices, with different screen sizes, processing power, storage, and especially means of interaction, the result will be that Android is NOT one single platform for software. Software written for one company's big touchscreen Android OS will not run on another company's compact joystick Android OS, etc.--or if software is made to run on multiple flavors, usability will suffer. Imagine putting iPhone's music/video player app on a machine with a small square screen and no touch. Imagine putting some trackball-based Windows Mobile app on an iPhone. The results of one app running on multiple Android platforms would not be consistent and easy to use--they would add software options, but not GOOD ones, the way it sounds. But I'd be interested in hearing about app--and UI--portability from those who followed Android in more depth than I have.



    So I have high hopes but low expectations. Android would still be the basis for making/selling MORE than one version of an app, tailored for each Android OS and this being well integrated and easy to use. That beats having to port an app from one phone to another from scratch. But it's not the same as a single OS shared by multiple phones all running the same apps.



    Even so, one or two custom Android flavors could take off. They may not be compatible with each other and share apps, but they could be good operating systems, built more quickly thanks to Android. We've seen what Apple has done based on their OS X. It will be interesting to see what others come up with based on Android. Whatever it is, it won't be Windows Mobile!
  • Reply 10 of 56
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "We want every phone to be a Google phone," he said. "We are ultimately talking about thousands of devices. The best way to do this would be*to get Google?s mobile operating system, Android, deployed on as many types of handsets as possible."



    Sounds a bit MS-ian, to me. \
  • Reply 11 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    AI needs to get on the ball with an "optimized for iPhone" portal for the articles and forums, as well as a WebClip icon.



    Excellent point. I hate to say this, but currently, AI sucks on the iPhone. (Example: If you want to get the comments/discussion up to a readable font size, you can't simultaeously see the name of the person commenting, since it is placed to the left. Relatedly, the story/comment column is too wide for the iPhone.)
  • Reply 12 of 56
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Excellent point. I hate to say this, but currently, AI sucks on the iPhone. (Example: If you want to get the comments/discussion up to a readable font size, you can't simultaeously see the name of the person commenting, since it is placed to the left. Relatedly, the story/comment column is too wide for the iPhone.)



    We hear you.



    Best,



    K
  • Reply 13 of 56
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I'm just thinking of all the nay-sayers who said the iPhone would flop because it didn't have (insert favorite deal killing, show stopping, not gonna buy one until) feature. Seems LOTS of people are buying them.



    But then these are the same people who said the iMac would fail without a floppy drive and the MacBook Air will fail because it doesn't have firewire or ethernet or whatever. Don't you just love the poor, glass-is-half-empty crowd.
  • Reply 14 of 56
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    We hear you.



    Best,



    K



    Thank you. Could we get a WebClip icon in place for good faith?
  • Reply 15 of 56
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    I'm just thinking of all the nay-sayers who said the iPhone would flop because it didn't have (insert favorite deal killing, show stopping, not gonna buy one until) feature. Seems LOTS of people are buying them.



    Don't get too excited yet. While it's a good start, 4 million phones sold is peanuts in the cell phone biz. And with this success comes greater competition who may simply clone many of the iPhones features.

    Plus look at Motorola, they once commanded the market, but fell asleep at the wheel.



    Apple IMHO, needs to quickly bring in a lower cost model. Not dirt cheap, but a $299 model could do wonders if they want to hit 10M by years end.
  • Reply 16 of 56
    mh71mh71 Posts: 44member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Thank you. Could we get a WebClip icon in place for good faith?



    They have one already.



    You might need to "reclip".
  • Reply 17 of 56
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mh71 View Post


    They have one already.



    You might need to "reclip".



    Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
  • Reply 18 of 56
    Revisit this traffic, after, the iPhone SDK is released.



    P.S. How many ads does a site need to flood open new browser views? I counted 8 since visiting the forum, before I made my post.



    I have an interesting idea to solve this, but I'm not one to give technical solutions for free.
  • Reply 19 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by satchmo View Post


    Apple IMHO, needs to quickly bring in a lower cost model. Not dirt cheap, but a $299 model could do wonders if they want to hit 10M by years end.



    Steve... are you listening?... he's listening...
  • Reply 20 of 56
    adjeiadjei Posts: 738member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by satchmo View Post


    Don't get too excited yet. While it's a good start, 4 million phones sold is peanuts in the cell phone biz. And with this success comes greater competition who may simply clone many of the iPhones features.

    Plus look at Motorola, they once commanded the market, but fell asleep at the wheel.



    Apple IMHO, needs to quickly bring in a lower cost model. Not dirt cheap, but a $299 model could do wonders if they want to hit 10M by years end.



    And you don't think they know this, people said the phone would fail because it has no GPS, 3G, and all that but we see how popular it has become and every phone wants to emulate, when Apple hits their target, people will start looking for new excuses to call it a failure.
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