移动搜索及移动应用程序开发公司Chomp今天推出了它的最新版本的应用程序。公司首席执行官Ben Keighran 称这次的大更新将显著提高应用程序搜寻的生态系统。

苹果的App Store以及其他规模较小的竞争对手都可以使用这项技术。由于应用市场中的应用程序已经从最早的几百个增长到成千上万个，有价值的应用程序的数目和那些可以通过苹果自身的发现机制（苹果App Store的排行榜）得到可观的曝光率的应用程序的数目产生了巨大的不匹配。

chomp

当其于一月启动时，Chomp专注于收集应用程序的评论和评级。现在，它充分利用收集的信息使其成为应用程序中的Google，并为用户呈现他们希望得到的、基于搜索关键词的最好的内容。

虽然，跟Google的比较只到目前为止。因为大部分的网站内容还是以文本为主，所以Google的搜索版本仍可以使用。而各种应用程序则是有着显著区别的，而且除了名字（这可能也无法完全描述这个程序的作用）之外也不包含任何的文本。

Chomp的搜索开始于应用程序的名字和移动设备为其分配的分类，同时它也挖掘由Chomp早期的用户和App Store提供的评论。然后，它在初步的搜索结果下方提供候补的搜索关键词，来帮助用户缩小他们的搜索范围。

比起网页，质量对于应用程序来说更加重要——当用户执行搜索时，他们可能只是想要一个特定的信息片段。而应用程序往往是付费的体验，用户希望知道他们是不是值得付出时间。所以Chomp已将现有的用户评级纳入到搜索结果中，用他们来影响搜索结果的排名。

Keighran把应用程序的搜索比作是寻找新的音乐。“每一个收藏音乐的人会一直不断地想要新的音乐，”他说，“每一个人都有一个不断寻找最新应用程序的朋友，他们每一天都会发现新的东西，并影响周围的人去下载它们。”

手机游戏开发商应该会觉得Chomp的新版本有意思，因为App Store的瓶颈使得游戏开发成了一个冒险的命题——开发人员花费大量时间和精力在新游戏上，但结果它却无人问津，只因为它无法再排行榜中名列前茅。现在还不清楚搜索是不是一个正确的解决方法，Chomp也并没有把所有鸡蛋都放在这个篮子里；Chomp应用也将提供个性化的建议。

Keighran说，虽然现在Chomp只能为iPhone工作，但最终它将扩大到Android等更多的系统。与网络不同，对于应用程序搜索引擎而言，为多种平台提供服务是无法改变的现实。他说，“按目前的情况看，问题在于存储残片和防火墙防御地区，而这些也是在未来数年内的发展趋势。”

Mobile Apps Get Better Discovery With Chomp’s New Search Engine

Chomp, a mobile mobile app search and discovery company, has its latest version out today, a big update that CEO Ben Keighran thinks will significantly improve the app ecosystem.

Apple’s App Store, as well as its smaller competitors, could use the help. As the app market has grown first from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of apps, a huge mismatch  has developed between the number of worthwhile apps and those that can receive any significant exposure through Apple’s own discovery mechanism, its App Store leaderboards.

When it started up this January, Chomp focused on collecting reviews and ratings for apps. Now it’s parlaying those into what Keighran says will be like a Google for apps, surfacing the best content for the user’s desire based on search terms.

The comparison to Google only goes so far, though. Google’s version of search works because most websites are still quite text-heavy. Apps are distinct programs that don’t necessarily involve text at all, beyond the name — which might not do much to describe what the app does.

Chomp’s search starts with the name and category that iDevice apps have been assigned, but it also mines reviews, both those left by earlier Chomp users and any left on the App Store entry. It then offers alternate search terms beneath the initial results, to help narrow down to what the user wants.

Quality is also more important for apps than for web pages — while users who are performing a search may just want a particular snippet of information, apps are often a paid-for experience that users want to know is worth their time. So Chomp has incorporated its existing user ratings into the search results, using them to help influence the rankings.

Keighran likens a search for apps to a looking for new music. “Everyone that has a collection of music constantly wants new music,” he says. “Everyone has a friend who’s always finding the latest apps … there’s new stuff getting discovered every day, and a core set of users influencing others around them to download more.”

Mobile game developers should find Chomp’s new version interesting, since the choke-point of the App Store has made development a risky proposition — developers can spend significantly on a new game, only to find that it flops due to not hitting the app store’s rankings. It’s not clear yet that search is the right solution, but Chomp itself isn’t putting all its eggs into search; the Chomp app still offers personalized recommendations, as well.

Although it’s just for the iPhone for now, Keighran says Chomp will eventually expand onto Android, and perhaps beyond. Unlike the web, serving multiple platforms will just be a fact of life for any app search engine. “The problem as it stands today is fragmentation and walled gardens, and that’s how it will be for the next few years,” he says.(source:inside social games)