Alibaba digs 'deep' in mobile search deal, calling it critical piece
Updated: 2014-10-21 11:37
By Lian Zi in San Francisco(China Daily USA)
|
|||||||||
Alibaba believes search is crucial to its mobile strategy, which is why the Chinese e-commerce giant picked application-search company Quixey to power that function on its mobile operating system.
"Search is a critical piece of the whole mobile strategy that we've been putting together," said Wang Jian, chief technology officer of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. "It's what we had in mind when we invested. This is to define the future of mobile search in China."
E-commerce transactions from mobile devices accounted for one-third of Alibaba's transaction volume during the quarter ended June 30, compared with 12 percent in the previous year's quarter.
Quixey, a tech startup in Mountain View, Calfornia, that bills itself as "The Search Engine For Apps", announced on Oct 17 that it will power app search and deep search for YunOS, Alibaba's mobile operating system.
The news came at the Aliyun Worldwide Developer Conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Quixey also launched a worldwide developer program in China, the first step in establishing aglobal network of developers to bring deep search to apps and users.
Mobile-phone applications have become key to finding information on the Internet, but most mobile search is still driven by app names and keywords.
"There are millions of apps, with millions of functionalities and billions of pieces of content, and people have no idea what's out there," said Tomer Kagan, CEO of Quixey, in comments emailed to China Daily. "As a user, I don't want to pick an app to search. I should be able to search all my apps from the same place every time. That's what we're bringing to YunOS.
"With AppURL as the official deep-linking standard in China, Quixey allows developers to deeply connect apps across devices and makes content discoverable," Kagan said.
Alibaba, with participation from GGV Capital, had already invested $50 million in Quixey's Series C round of financing.
Hans Tung, managing partner of GGV, believes that mobile search has entered a new era. Users should not have to open every app to search for information, he said.
Wang Xiao, CEO of Innospring, a California-based technology incubator, said the collaboration opens the Chinese market to US startups and also satisfies a search need for Chinese customers.
zilian@chinadailyusa.com
(China Daily USA 10/21/2014 page1)
- Veep and CEO
- US Healthcare workers attend Ebola educational session
- Kate makes first public appearance after pregnancy
- Chinese may go after California high-speed rail project
- Terracotta warriors attract celebrities around the world
- US-China solar pact holds big potential: Analyst
- Top 10 richest women in China
- Yang Jiechi meets with US National Security Advisor
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
CPC Fourth Plenary Session |
Innovative Asia |
Tourists set to travel light overseas |
Cold comfort for former sex slaves |
Poverty in China |
Exams that baffle best test-takers |
Today's Top News
Shooting locks down Canada's parliament
Book tells story of 'comfort women'
US-China solar pact holds big potential: analyst
Beijing reforms moving with 'purpose, urgency'
Tesla to sell cars on Tmall
Chinese premier upbeat despite economic slowdown
Report: Mobile advertising on a roll
Students warned of online encounters
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |