Marni Walden, Verizon’s CMO, announced today that beginning this fall, all Verizon Android phones will ship with app search, courtesy of Chomp.
“Verizon is the only carrier with an app store and the only carrier to make app discovery available on shipping phones,” a representative for Verizon tell WebProNews. “Chomp’s app search engine will be integrated into the new Verizon Apps store and branded as Chomp search.”
Verizon is also launching a new Verizon Apps store, which will replace VCast.
“With almost 1 million apps available for iOS and Android users, app discovery is now critical,” the rep says. “As more people move into a ‘post-PC,’ mobile world, this number will continue to grow.”
“Web search from companies such as Google is not able to perform app search in a quality way,” she adds. “Chomp realized early on that web search doesn’t work well for app search because the information that’s available about apps is completely different than Web data. Chomp spent 2 years developing app search and has 11 patents pending for both search and user experience.”
Chomp’s algorithm learns the functions of apps and lets users search for apps based on what they do. It learns things associated with each app from the info available on other app marketplaces, along with data from Twitter, Facebook, and various blogs and sites.
Chomp CEO Ben Keighran says, “Verizon undertook a rigorous app search evaluation process. Like us, they realize that app search is completely different from Web search. It’s an incredibly difficult problem to solve, but Chomp has addressed it through years of development and millions of downloads. Our approach to app search perfectly matches Verizon’s demands for an industry-best app store experience.”
Chomp’s app search engine will power all searches in Verizon apps beginning on Android smartphones being released later this fall.
