I mean even if the "android app" came out how does it gain traction?
Does anybody actually use an "app" to search on mobile phones?
You type some phrases into an app, the app displays results in a webview, you click the SERP, then what? a browser opens?
Why don't you use the browser on your phone directly for searching?
That's why I think Google is working on some ROM feature, not an app. Or maybe there are some misudnerstanding from the "source"
If it's an app it's doomed to fail.
These are not exactly web page search. It need deep integration with account(gmail), maps (with up-to-dateupdated POI), schedules, music, movie reviews, news.
It covered much more than just search. I am not sure google can pull that off the same app in China. It will be very unlikely.
YouTube and Gmail also don't work in China, which are significant. They technically didn't leave China, however, because they never entered it.
> Fact 2: Search engines are more and more irrelevant these days. All interesting new content are either from Weibo or Wechat (or other closed garden)
I think you mean to qualify that with in China?
> Fact 4: Firewalls in China has a hierarchical layers of blocking
Most of the western-world web moved to HTTPS specifically because China was inspecting plain text packets. It was interesting to watch the change over happen from 2008-2011.