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Mobile search trending topics being quietly tested by Google

This could allow trending search topics to be identified from within the query bar similar to top social networks.

Several reports have been appearing throughout media outlets that have indicated that Google may be quietly testing some trending topics options for mobile search that would let those popular stories be displayed within the search bar.

This concept is quite similar to what has already become commonplace over Facebook and Twitter.

The trending topics have become a regular experience through social media and now seems to be appearing on Google through mobile browsers such as Safari on iOS. After starting to type into the mobile search bar, the dropdown menu appears for the user and trending searches is one of the available options. This allows users to see what other people have been looking for during the last recent while.

Choosing one of the trending mobile search topics brings the user to an array of news articles on that subject.

Mobile Search - GoogleThat said, while some users are able to access this new trending topic feature over mobile, others are not. This looks as though it could be that Google is testing out the service but that it is making it available only to a group of a certain size as opposed to rolling it out across all users. Moreover, some people who have used it have also discovered that the option has been taken away and that they no longer have access to it.

By the time of the writing of this article, Google had yet to release an official statement about this trending topics option for mobile searches and it had not responded to request for a comment. There have been many speculations that this feature had been made available to only a limited pool of users and even that was for a small amount of time.

That said, if it is true that Google is testing out a trending mobile search option, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise for many users. This type of service already exists over social media platforms and has proven successful for keeping device users engaged. As one of Google’s specialties is obviously search, providing an option for what is trending may be considered a natural fit.

Mobile payments rolled out in NoWait app

The smartphone application for restaurant waitlisting is making it easier to complete the dining experience.

NoWait, a restaurant waitlisting service, has already established a popular smartphone app that allows diners to be able to “line up” digitally at nearby participating restaurants where they do not have reservations and the application is now rolling out their mobile payments service to boost the available convenience.

These services are meant to shrink the amount of time needed to get a meal without having to wait.

The mobile app has rapidly been increasing in its popularity over the last few years. It offers diners a range of different features, but it also provides a subscription-based suite of tools to restaurants. This allows the businesses themselves to be able to manage their waitlists, server rotation, seating, reservations, and many other important factors. By the time of the writing of this article, there were already nearly 4,000 restaurant companies that had signed on to use this platform. Among them, several are very large chains, such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, On the Border, and First Watch, among others. Now, the app is also offering mobile payments.

The mobile payments are available in both the Android and iOS versions of the NoWait application.

restaurant app - mobile paymentsThe mobile app currently seats more than 25 million diners every month. This is a staggering amount of growth over the same figure in 2014, which had been just over 5 million per month. At that time, it had only just finished its Series B financing round at which time it brought in another $10 million.

It has already seated over 250 million diners who have used the application in order to join the line to wait for a table. The application is appropriate for both smartphone and tablet users. It has been downloaded more than 3 million times and NoWait is predicting that by the end of this year, there will have been about 5 million individual diners who will have headed out to restaurants by way of this mobile application.

By adding mobile payments, the goal is to be able to complete the entire dining experience over the smart device.