The Predicament with Apps

Why Search Will Never Become Obsolete

I heard something on the train the other day regarding how apps will soon make the internet and search engines obsolete, as you will be able to download an app for basically anything you need. I jumped up, indignant, and slapped the person’s smug face, hard, while screaming, “You take that back this instant”!

Some of the more astute readers will have realised the above didn’t actually happen, and that it is likely I employed artistic license in order to introduce my topic. You may not think this to be an art, this article writing in the digital marketing arena, but you are wrong. I am the Picasso of the Digital Marketing world, mixed with the Renaissance Masters, plus a dash of my mate who makes awesome sculptures out of macaroni (he’s 4, but so creative).

The truth is I was sitting around one day and thought to myself that I could pretty much do anything I needed on an app, purchase groceries without leaving the house, order an Uber to pick me up from my house and drop me at the gym, record the gym session that I pretended I went to but really went to the pub, and use the map when I couldn’t figure out the direction back to my home. Not once did I need to use Google or any other search engine on the internet.

It wasn’t necessarily a ‘revelation’, apps are ubiquitous in our daily lives, so much so that the phrase, “I bet there’s an app for that”, is legit. I literally remember a time when it was amusing to utter those words because you’d jump on the app store and find something similar and we’d be rolling about with laughter, ROFLing, if you will, as that was the fashion at the time. I haven’t heard that phrase said once in the past few years, come to think of it. Probably because if you have a requirement, in many cases, someone has created an app for it.

So if I don’t need to use the internet and search engines, why don’t they die already?! Well, the obvious answer is that it is the framework that allows the apps to be developed, but it goes deeper than that. Apps are basically the tool of the zeitgeist, but the zeitgeist is forever changing. In 20 years do you really think we are going to be walking around with bulky touch screens in our pockets?

Of course not, despite the fact that we all know there have been developments that have been brought forth and either flopped or were impractical. One of the recent ones was a touch screen that showed up on your arm that came from a strap on your wrist. I am quite heavily tattooed on both my arms, which would make this highly impractical alone, but what about hairy people, of which I also have my fair share. It is a cool idea, but the practicality leaves a bit to be desired.

We’ve also been subjected to Google Glass and a range of other ideas that, developed further, will enhance our internet experience. Apps may appear on these things in a future, but they will be unrecognizable to the current apps. In fact, Google likely won’t need these as it will be more beneficial to them to develop use of search engines when it comes to these devices. Apps, by definition, are applications based on a specific section of the internet. As the future becomes our reality, segmenting parts of the internet will be detrimental.

Why is that? Essentially Apps silo information, create fun and consumable packets of internet that allow us to focus on a task at hand. One of my favourite authors, John Ralston Saul, speaks about the dangers of silo-ing information, as it creates elitism, and cuts off useful information that could be used by another party that could be beneficial to the course of their research/development. Of course there is collaboration and as I’ve spoken about in the past, Uber uses Google Maps, etc, plus Google has purchased some smaller companies that were doing huge things with Maps and the like.

While we have delved into my ideas around apps, we really should take a look at some of my ideas as to where Search is going. This may be a little selfish on my behalf, as I’d like to be remembered as the Futurist of Search Marketing and I am hoping that someone who knows how to code reads this and makes my thoughts reality.

Ten years ago Google looked like this: (photo of Google ten years ago)

AdWords was in its infancy, Search was based on rudimentary algorithms that scanned a site for keywords and showed results based off these scans. I’m going to be honest, I hated the internet for a long time for its clunky nature, showing me things that were nothing like what I asked for, but as time went by, and as Google refined their algorithms, companies developed strategies to show me what I wanted, and I converted.

Search in the future will likely include peripherals to our search query, things that would never have entered our minds. How amazing would it be to be driving along and your car detects an issue with the left front tyre, the alignment of the wheels and determines you have 50km to safely drive without damaging the vehicle. It then provides not only the location, but the special offers, and the one with the best reviews, the best available booking times and when you’ll be able to drop the car off. It’s no longer Search, but a tool that will require businesses to ensure top level service and up to date information, simplifying life for everyone!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the future is amazing. We partly live it now and while a lot of what I do is speculation, I remember green screen computers at school (which should give you an idea of my advanced age) and how I said to myself while using it, “I’ll be happy to use a computer when I can tell it what to do and it does it, and I can fit it in my pocket.” This is now and I was a kid back then with little knowledge of the applications of computers (outside of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego).  With my current experience, knowledge and track record of predicting the future, I can say that Apps will never replace Search, because Search is a beast that will evolve into something only few of us can dream.

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