Zillows iPhone app has been downloaded by more than one million people.Take Zillow.com, the real estate Web site where people can hunt for prices and other details about houses. Zillow's iPhone app adds GPS. People walking their dog through the neighborhood can snoop on the prices of their neighbors homes.
Its a way better experience in the field than on the PC, said Rich Barton, Zillow's chief executive. When you're walking or driving, you get estimates or homes recently sold stuff you cant see.
Nine million people visit Zillow's Web site each month, according to the company. In less than a year, its app has been downloaded by more than one million people, who view the details of two million individual homes on their phones each month.
Zillow is starting to sell mobile ads to local business and real estate agents, an opportunity that surprised the company. We thought it would be an extension of our brand, not a money-making entity, said Amy Bohutinsky, vice president of communications at Zillow.
A new version of the app released in February added rental listings and the ability to share Zillow's home data, photos and property values on Facebook and Twitter.
Yelps mobile app is another example. Yelps Web site is useful for looking up reviews of the restaurant your date recommended or finding a good tailor near your home.
But on a cellphone, it gets a lot more useful. Yelps iPhone app uses GPS to search businesses near you and then gives you directions to get there, so you can find your way around in an unfamiliar city, for instance.
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Mobile Apps That Outperform Web Sites
Since the great app rush began, Web companies have scurried to build mobile apps. In some cases, they have realized that their services are better suited to cellphone screens than computers.
