Internet giants turning one-stop platforms to beat app economy

thehindubusinessline.com

One-stop shop For service providers, being listed on Google or Facebook could lead to more business

Internet giants Facebook and Google are moving beyond their existing offerings and platforms to venture into aggregating online services. Instead of using multiple applications for various needs, Facebook and Google are looking to layer these services to a single platform.

From ordering food, to hailing a cab and booking car-cleaning services, you won’t have to download a bunch of applications. Soon, you will be able to do all of this on Facebook or Google.

To start with, Google has launched a facility to book Ola and Uber cabs on its Map and via its search page. Other services are probably on the anvil.

Facebook, on the other hand, has partnered with a number of online players in the US to offer a one-stop shop for services. It’s only a matter of time before Facebook starts rolling this out in other countries, too, including India.

Staying relevant

According to analysts, the move is an attempt by the internet giants to stay relevant at a time when online usage is shifting to niche applications.

“Consumers now search for food, hotels and movie tickets in specific applications instead of on Google. By being an aggregator of services, Google is trying to evolve with the changing times,” said an analyst tracking the sector.

Jayanth Kolla, founder of IT and digital research firm Convergence Catalyst, said: “They want users to make its mobile browser more engaging so that people use at least one of their properties at a given time.”

For the service providers, being listed on Google or Facebook could lead to more business. According to an industry report, about 65 per cent of app downloads or installs are a result of internet search.

Sanchit Gogia, founder of research firm Greyhound Group, said the aggregator model will work in a market like India, where a large number of users can’t download multiple applications due to poor data coverage and/or lack of smartphone penetration.

Abinash Tripathy, founder of CRM (Customer Relationship Management)-software start-up Helpshift, said these initiatives by Google are “reactive strategies as they fear that the app economy will kill the web franchise one day; hence, they are trying to make people stay in the browser through all means.”