ADI: Google’s IoT Initiatives Drive Developer Buzz

OnHub beat Echo for social attention, indicating that developers should dedicate resources to Google’s virtual assistant, according to new analysis by Adobe Digital Index.

With Google’s I/O event next week, social buzz around the company’s Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives is on the rise among the developer community. An analysis by Adobe Digital Index (ADI) identified Google’s OnHub, Project Tango, Android Wear, Cardboard, and Ara as the top five developer opportunities based on social sentiment.

“We looked at the top initiatives Google’s working on right now, and these five are the ones that developers and consumers are most excited about,” said Adam Lloyd, an analyst at ADI. “Social media can be used to identify what initiatives or projects are catching consumers’ attention, and this can help developers decide where to invest their efforts.”

ADI also compared the consumer social buzz around OnHub to buzz around Amazon’s Echo. OnHub beat Echo for social attention, indicating that developers should dedicate resources to Google’s product.

Lloyd added that Google Chrome, while a long-standing market leader, is not getting much attention from developers, or consumers, in the social space. “It’s a shame because Chrome actually dominates the browser market, and it is the preferred browser for Millennials and every other age group,” Lloyd said.

ADI surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers about their device use, including browser preference. The key finding was that regardless of device, users preferred Chrome over other browsing experiences. Millennials, specifically, sway heavily toward Chrome use, with 60% citing it as their preference.

What’s most interesting is that iOS users are also indicating they prefer Chrome. Chrome usage has grown 77% year over year (YoY) on Android devices and 20% YoY on iOS devices.

“Survey respondents say that ‘ease of use’ and ‘speed’ were the two top criteria for browser preference,” Lloyd said. “This indicates that consumers are not tied to their OS’s default browser but choose what they see as the best.”