In the world of Internet startups, taking on Google’s main business has been a fool’s errand. The graveyard of failed search engines is long and deep, and while there are still challengers promising safer or more relevant results, Google’s market share only goes in one direction: Up.
But when it comes to mobile, the market is playing out very differently (a topic to be explored at Re/code’s Code/Mobile conference next month). At least that’s the wager that youthful companies such as URX, Deeplink and Branch Metrics are making. They’re all operating with a fairly simple thesis: Search on mobile is kind of lame. Consumers on the move don’t go to Google.com to type in queries, but instead open travel, shopping, music and news apps to find what they want.
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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