Yu Televentures has entered the local and classified search business in a big way, baking its app Around Yu into all its new phones, starting with Yutopia.
The company is hoping that its ability to implant the app in all its phones will give it an edge over competitors like Foodpanda, Taxiforsure etc.
It also said that people are moving further and further away from search engine-based services on their mobile phones.
Yu Televentures founder Rahul Sharma said data indicated that people are starting to use dedicated apps for searching each category and moving from generic search engines like Google. He also gave a presentation slide which apparently shows declining usage of search engine-based players on mobile phones. The source of the data was disclosed. (Disclaimer: We cannot independently vouch for the authenticity and completeness of the data exhibited.)
The Around Yu app has sections for food, taxi, hotels etc..
The the app also allows you to figure out prices for items by using information from websites like Flipkart, Snapdeal etc.
Sharma said the attempt is help customers out from having to download a hundred apps for various things.
“There are tons of apps. How many can you download and compare,” he asked.
In the cabs section, for example, the app shows prices from Ola, Uber etc. like it shows prices from Flipkart, Amazon etc.
Travel information is from ezeego, a company in which Yu invested recently.
It’s not clear whether upstream data providers like Flipkart and Amazon will try to block data flow into this app.
“It is the most convenient way to get services that I have seen,” Sharma said, adding that it took nearly one year to develop it.
It is not clear if the app is immediately available on other phones.