The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology replied to netizens in the "Leadership Message Board" of the People's Network that "our ministry will study in depth", which was recently released by major news platforms, and there is a sense of word of mouth and gratifying.
If nothing else, the problem reflected by the netizen poked at the pain points of most people: "Now when browsing content with mobile browsers, some applications often pop up window recommending APP... You must download the app to view all the reviews..."
Smartphone users have probably encountered this situation. As soon as the news came out, the loudest voice in the comment area was: "Finally! Some netizens boldly suggested that it is better to reprint the newsletter than a news client, and open the APP in the browser display to view the full text.
Today's mobile phone users, doing simple searches in mobile browsers – especially without having to click to any page – barely work. If you want to soak in the browser for a while, here and there to shop, it is almost impossible, the experience is very poor, three steps and two turns, intermittent progress is difficult. And this has been going on unconsciously for years.
There is a sentence that Lu Xun did say: It has always been like this, right?
Since last year, mobile Internet users have opened the second pulse of Ren Dou and suddenly reflected on many past "strange and not strange" phenomena. Before there was APP open screen advertising rectification, platform interconnection, in the near future, the browser mandatory download APP will be the next situation to be changed?
A
After the alphabet list test, when the Safari browser that comes with Apple's mobile phone uses Baidu search "how to view the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's response to force the download of app", click on the search results, and find that there are multiple pages in the page that are clicked into.
For example, in one of the pages, the "Baidu APP" banner is displayed at the top and there is a button of "Read in the APP"; at the same time, the browser will automatically pop up to ask whether to jump to the Baidu APP (and have the word "recommended"); even if "Continue to read in Safari" is selected at this time, the drop-down page, the news content is not displayed in full text, but the button "Open Baidu APP to read the full text" is displayed at the bottom.
At this point, if you want to browse the full text, you must click this button and jump to the Apple App Store. But in fact, if you do not download the Baidu APP, open the background and return to the browser, you will find that the full text has been displayed, you can continue to browse.
After testing, open the first few pages of Baidu search results, its content page almost all have APP download prompts, such as Baidu APP such "efforts" as Sina.com, others such as NetEase News, Snowball, etc., you can read the full text, but there are obvious guided download buttons on the upper and lower pages.
In addition, there are some platforms that castrate the mobile web end, such as being able to browse content, but need to download the APP to comment and interact. Another form of this approach is to give apps some "exclusive" content or functionality, such as Tencent's mobile web page.
Open a news link on Tencent's website in your browser, and drop down most of the content in the information stream at the bottom of the drop-down is "APP Exclusive"
After testing on Android phones, Apple phones and multiple browsers, this situation has nothing to do with the browser itself, and belongs to the choice of web design on various platforms.
This test is mainly focused on the news content platform, in fact, the phenomenon has no boundaries.
One thing that is certain is that it is difficult to immerse yourself for a long time in mobile browsers today. Most platforms use the mobile web as a primer, and if the user does not fall into their own APP, it seems to have a big loss of meaning, or even no meaning. The mobile web terminal is reduced to a plaque, a page of directory, and an entrance to customers under the search engine.
The browser is the lobby, the APP is its own small shop, and it is easy to talk behind closed doors.
Some are just when you browse, always put a "download APP" button to guide you to click; some do not download the APP can only use a part of the function, some are in the browser can not finish an article, video can not play. Even the "use up and go" can not be reached, before it is used, the user is directly dragged away.
Some are good words of persuasion, some make you uncomfortable, and some are directly head-scratching. The word "mandatory" was key, and its definition was yet to be discussed.
B
If you say that today's headlines, Xiaohongshu and other younger platforms, because of their appearance as soon as they appear, they are still easy to accept. The news websites, Baidu Tieba and Zhihu have experienced the development of mobile web terminals, and the emasculation of the functions of the mobile web terminal and the complete abandonment of the browser experience are particularly unbearable for users.
Turning the time back to 2017, some Tianya forum netizens posted that they found that they could not happily brush and paste it in the browser overnight.
"Can you stop treating non-APP users like this?" This question, five years later, seems quite strange - there are still "non-APP users" for mobile phone users? But in fact, in the first decade of the 21st century, the browser was once the future of the mobile Internet, and the mobile browser also had a brilliant time.
In 2004, UC UVIS launched a browser, when mobile phones were transforming into intelligent systems, and 2G networks were just beginning to let users touch the Internet on their mobile phones. However, a trillion yuan, the traffic is expensive, the mobile phone comes with a browser to access the Internet is slow and costly, and the third-party browser that can compress the traffic, occupy small memory and have strong performance is favored.
Until 2009, the issuance of 3G licenses, the three major network operators reduced tariffs, and the competition for mobile browsers became more and more fierce. Tencent QQ, Baidu, Google and other manufacturers have entered the field of mobile browsers.
In 2010, the mobile browser broke through the web website mobile phone adaptation technology, that is to say, users can get the same content and browsing experience on the PC side on the mobile phone, and the mobile browser competition entered the second half - from a short and fast surfing tool to a large and complete transformation.
At that time, mobile browsers had a great trend, browsers were regarded as an important traffic entrance, and even the view that "mobile browsers will become an alternative to mobile operating systems" prevailed.
Close your eyes, and you may be able to remember the days ten years ago when you continued to try new in third-party browsers such as UC Browser, Opera Oupeng Browser, QQ Browser, Baidu Browser, Chrome Browser, etc.
The 2011 UQ war — UC Browser vs. QQ Browser — was the climax of that war. At that time, UC issued an announcement attacking Tencent for issuing "false data reports" to a large number of UC partners, and even said that the move was to "put UC to death".
Under the bustle, the development of app is also squeezing mobile browsers, making its role more and more embarrassing. The time when the two major browsers are at their best is also a prelude to the change of mobile browser roles. In 2012, Sogou's Wang Xiaochuan said that it is necessary to look down on mobile browsers and believe that the applications in mobile phones are mainly client-oriented.
At the 2013 Baidu World Congress, the form of "light application" was proposed, in fact, this is the possibility of replacing mobile APPS in the eyes of baidu, Ali and other big manufacturers. In 2015, Google launched the feature Google App Streaming, which also intends to break the wall of the APP, allowing users to browse the content of the APP with one click in the browser.
The proposal to "replace the application" is actually a confirmation of the threat to the application, in the "2013 Q1 Mobile Internet Trend Report" released by Baidu in the same year, the data has shown that the mobile browser is being marginalized.
The report shows that the length of applications such as online shopping, video and audio, search, and maps has increased by double digits, but browsers have only grown by 2%. The number of per capita daily startups of browsers is also declining, and the third-party APP users used the most frequently that year was WeChat, followed by Weibo.
C
On the mobile side, the browser has not been able to form the same status as the PC side, and the vertical APP and the super APP represented by WeChat are diverting from the browser, and it has gradually transformed into a part of the APP. According to the data of Huajing Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's mobile browser users in 2019 has reached 682 million, and in March 2021, the number of mobile browser devices in China ranked first in QQ browser, with 523 million devices.
In 2019, the penetration rate of mobile browser search and search, information browsing and other functions among users exceeded 90%, and more than 80% of users used additional functions such as short videos, novels, and mini games.
The changing role of the mobile browser can also be seen in its slogan in the app store.
On February 22, search for "browser" in the Apple App Store, from top to bottom APP and its slogans are: UC browser, novel short video sneak peek; QQ browser, search for news novel files; quark, the new generation of intelligent search (video 5 times speed, network disk scanning novel information); Baidu, news headlines popular smart search.
Search is still the most basic mission of mobile browsers, but compared with the one-stop service ten years ago, today in the browser environment to match the content with demand, content providers are no longer willing to let customers stay in the browser for one more minute - since March 2019, China Mobile Internet MAU (monthly active users) is close to 1.1 billion, the demographic dividend has peaked, and user time has become the target of APP competition.
After the browser accurately assigns users to the platform, its role is completed, and the rest is that the APP rolls up its sleeves and waits for you.
Unfortunately, the role of the mobile browser has changed and the user's cognition of the mobile browser has been misplaced.
Especially at a time when the PC browser is still the core entrance, people's cognition (or expectation) of the browser is still inevitably stuck in the previous decade: a kind of existence parallel to the APP. Even if the experience is slightly worse, it should be able to completely replace the use of independent application services, which is in line with the user's long-term accumulation of usage habits.
Today, when I'm browsing through content in a browser, I'm constantly being asked to install standalone apps, which is not only unconventional, but also confusing, and ultimately, deprived of choice.
The denial of the right to choose is the focus of the reflection of Internet users in the past two years. Whether it is open-screen advertising, mutual blocking between platforms, or the independent copyright of music software, for users, in the final analysis, it is an involuntary "arrangement".
If the browser is forced to download the APP, it can really become the next "habit" that is reflected, or even changed, for the user, it will be the true return of the browser, and for the mobile browser, it may also become another opportunity.
Resources:
1. Sohu Media: "[2013 Q1 Mobile Internet Trend Report: The Decline of Mobile Browsers"
2. 21st Century Network: "UQ Wars Do Not Yield to Each Other, Mobile Browser Market Flame Rekindles"
3, 36 Kr: "Noh Mobile Phone and WeChat Era, Rethinking the Web and Mobile Browser"
4. Ai Media Consulting: "2019-2020 China Third-Party Mobile Browser Market Monitoring Report"
5, Geek Park: "In Google's view, all apps will become browsers in the future"