Wait SMS based search engine is not dead in India. txtBrowser crosses 300 mn queries mark
While internet penetration has been growing in India, traditional search for answers over SMS also registers decent growth. SMS based search engine txtBrowser has recently crossed 300 million queries.It allows users to access any information that is available on the internet over SMS by simply sending their query in natural language.
“India has been a great market with the number of mobile users exponentially growing every month. Though there has been a significant increase in smartphone users, a portion of them still find it convenient to quickly find answers over SMS,” says Alan D Souza, founder & CEO, Vavia Technologies.
This importantly signifies the fact that people still uses SMS as search engine or primary source to get info.
“Our search queries come from various domains. We have seen a spikes of queries in verticals such as sports, entertainment, news, information search and astrology,” adds Alan.
txtbrowser allows users to access any website or search any information and receive information in a jiffy without internet access. The browser also has a large collection of built-in apps that allow users to access location based information and a range of other similar services.
The browser has been witnessing a steady 10-15% growth on monthly basis. “This is primarily due to the launch in more locations and languages. Also, availability across operators has been increasing,” reveals Alan.
txtBrowser opened its platform in November last year to allow developers to build their own apps on its platform. This has facilitated the developers to come up with innovative apps which have been receiving instant traction with the users. Developers interested in using txtBrowser to develop and market innovative apps are requested to register on the website txtBrowser’s website.
How it reached 300 million queries mark?
“The biggest factor in making us reach 300 million is that txtBrowser responds with an answer rather than reverting back with a list of links. Today’s users are looking for quick answers and that’s where they keep returning back to our product,” says Alan.
Why SMS based search engine would be relevant even in future?
SMS based search engine is an offline medium to seek info. Users send across queries for quick direct answers while searching on the internet is a quite different experience as such. You are presented with links that need to be accessed, deal with page loading times and then read through the content (the entire process could be pain for non-internet users).
The browser plans to expand its offerings to new regions and languages. “We are also in the process of integrating our mobile apps with OEMs to help people access information without having to remember any shortcode,” says Alan.