Xyologic: Google in the world of mobile applications

I think many people remember the times when the Internet was just a scattered set of web pages. The search process as such did not exist yet; therefore, it was possible to move from site to site only via links within resources. Then Yahoo! combined sites in directories, but until the advent of Google, most of the Internet remained non-indexed. Imagine that the court again in 1994. At least in the world of mobile applications.



Despite startups such as Zwapp , Appsfire , Yappler , Apptizr and Appolicious , which are trying to “clean up”, the App Store, Google Play and Windows Market are still repositories of a chaotic set of applications. Probably everyone is familiar with the situation when they had to wander around the online store for a long time.



Many startups today are focused on search engine optimization in the world of applications. So in early 2012, Apple acquired Chomp for $ 50,000,000 and even used their groundwork in iOS 6. But the process is still far from ideal.

')

Recently, Xyologic , a service with a new approach to search, has appeared on the network. Its creators claim that the search in the usual sense is outdated. "It is assumed that you are looking only for textual information, but the rapid development of the mobile application market has changed everything," they say.







The project originated in Berlin after receiving an impressive investment from Signia Venture Partners . There are three employees in the staff . At the head is 33-year-old Zoya Adamovich , who has been known for her active participation in Internet projects since 1999.



Xyologic began to study user behavior in 2010. According to them, 60% of iOS apps have never been downloaded . Surprisingly, 0.1% of applications receive 50% of downloads. With Android and Windows Phone, things are a little better. For developers, this is a big problem.



The creators of Xyologic understand that it is difficult for people to find the application by simply typing two or three words in the search bar. Only 5% of requests include famous brands such as Angry Birds, the rest are written in the spirit of "games for five year old girls." That is why the developers have broken all the most popular queries by category.







Technology Natural App Category, implemented by the creators, identifies more than 700 categories of applications and 100 genres of games. At the moment, you can learn all about applications for Android, iPhone and iPad. Search for Windows Phone is still under development.







The service was created for real people and, above all, in order to “get” as many “zombie software” as possible. Therefore, in each market there is a general rating of applications from different categories. Popularity is evaluated by several parameters. Great user feedback. In Xyologic there is also a kind of recommendatory system.







The creators have implemented another important detail that distinguishes Xyologic from other services: here you can find out the number of downloads of the application. Such information is not in the open access App Store, but when collecting analytics, it is often important.



Just want to make a reservation: the data is very inaccurate. It was experimentally established that in almost all cases the number of downloads indicated there is 2.5-3 times less than the real one. This is sad, but nevertheless, there are numbers that can be repelled. In addition, I still do not fully understand the search logic. Applications with completely different ratings can be almost on equal positions.



If you do not take into account these facts, as well as the fact that the service is currently in beta testing, we can talk about a good attempt at structuring the dump of all online stores. “Xyologic proves that Berlin also knows how to make high-quality start-ups, and not to stamp similar ones to existing ones,” say the creators.



By the way, Yandex also did its own search for markets . Has anyone already managed to test this service in action? How is it compared to Xyologic? Please share your impressions.



Additional links:

3 startups trying to find the right mobile app for you

“Search ... Is Obsolete” Says Xyologic

Xyologic unveils search engine to improve mobile app discovery on Android

Releases new beta search engine for Android apps