Yahoo has decided to go into the application search business and has created its own app that will search and recommend apps on both Android and iOS platforms.
The No. 2 search engine has already released Yahoo App Search, which is the first of its kind for any search engine we know of, but the Y! Appspot promises more personalized app recommendations. Its search function also gives users "at-a-glance" stats, more relevant apps and "faster, easier downloads." Yahoo scans the phone's current apps and previous app searches to deliver more relevant results.
"Unlike 'Top Apps' lists that provide the same apps day after day, you'll get new, personalized app suggestions on a daily basis, so you're always introduced to the latest, most interesting, and relevant apps," wrote Anil Panguluri, Yahoo Product Director of Mobile Search.
The app, which is on both iTunes and the Android Market, has received mostly good reviews, such as "Just found out about three new cool apps in my daily pick thingie. Finally good recommendations!!" There were also less enthusiastic ones (almost entirely on Android Market) such as, "Scrolling is clunky," and "Not too stoked about non-optional audio."
But why, Yahoo? There are other similar apps out there, startups like Appsfire and Chomp, even discount search apps like AppMiner. Yahoo is a struggling search engine and it makes sense for the company to go into app search -- it's a niche that Google has seemingly missed, probably because it's also blinded by its Android Market. But an app? Yahoo has enough juice behind it, it had 3.8 billion search queries in May, that with the right marketing it could eclipse any of the startups on the market. We'll have to wait and see if Yahoo can hit its stride in app search or continue to lose relevance.
