Google has closed down more of its under-performing services, dropping its stand-alone Google Shopper app as its looks to push its multi-function search app instead. The Google Shopper app will close on August 30th as the firm moves users to shop online using the browser-based Google Shopping for search on desktops or the Google Search […]
Google has closed down more of its under-performing services, dropping its stand-alone Google Shopper app as its looks to push its multi-function search app instead.
The Google Shopper app will close on August 30th as the firm moves users to shop online using the browser-based Google Shopping for search on desktops or the Google Search app on mobile devices.
Google wants to reduce the number of competing services it offers to do the same activities, such as online shopping.
Writing in the company blog, Sameer Samat, Google Shopping’s VP of product management, wrote: “We want to focus our efforts on Google Shopping and Google Search, to create a better, more consistent shopping experience across all devices. To help us focus on that goal, we’ll be shutting down the stand-alone Google Shopper app on Aug. 30.”
Instead of accessing the stand-alone Google Shopper app, users will be able to “search directly on Google (or use the Google Search app on mobile devices) or visit google.com/shopping in any browser,” wrote Samat. “Our best features are there: you can compare prices, shop on the go, find a product in stock locally, check out product photos, read reviews or find product details.”
Google Shopping will feature more than 1 billion products from more than 100,000 sellers, according to Samat. The service has added 10,000 new merchants and marketplaces in the past three months, he added.
Google is making this move because each week an increasing number of people are doing their searches and buying using mobile devices, he wrote. “And many of these people are looking for product information; 76 percent of shoppers use the Web to research purchases and 57 percent of people use mobile devices to help them shop smarter.”
Google also recently announced that it is dropping its Google+ Local app for iOS, which had allowed users to find stores and restaurants located near them in their local neighborhoods.
Read the blog announcement here
