Announcing Google Shopper for iPhone
(Cross-posted on the Google Merchant Blog) — As we announced last November, millions of people have downloaded Google Shopper for Android to help them shop on the go. Today, we're excited to let you know that Google Shopper …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google Shopper started life as an Android exclusive: it first hit the Android Market in February 2010, and Google now says millions of people have downloaded it since the app's November push. Bringing it to iPhone extends a pattern Google set early, when it shipped its first iPhone application back in December 2007 rather than treating iOS as rival turf.
First-order effects
- iPhone owners gain access to the same on-the-shelf product recognition and price lookup Android users have had, closing a feature gap that favored one platform's shoppers.
- Google gets a second distribution channel for its shopping data at a moment when the confirmed shift of major handset makers toward Android makes Apple's installed base the largest pool of users it does not already reach through its own OS.
Second-order effects
- Cross-platform availability raises the bar for any retailer or app maker whose mobile shopping tools were differentiated by being iPhone-only, since Google's free offering now covers both audiences.
- The move feeds the ongoing iPhone-versus-Android fan debate documented through late 2010: each port blunts 'exclusive app' arguments that partisans on either side have used as ammunition.
Third-order effects
- If Google keeps leading with Android releases and following onto iOS, mobile shopping becomes another layer where one company's data infrastructure sits underneath both operating systems, regardless of which handset wins share.
The trend: Mobile services are increasingly launching Android-first and porting to iOS second, turning shopping apps into cross-platform data plays rather than platform differentiators.