Dolphin browser goes local, partnering with Baidu, Yandex, Yahoo Japan and DuckDuckGo

MoboTap, the company behind the Dolphin Browser for Android smartphones and tablets, has teamed up with search engines in China, Japan, Russia and the US, as it seeks to appeal to more local users in those markets as an alternative browser.

With its latest move, Dolphin is trying to localize by more than just introducing different languages — instead it is making efforts to adapt to various cultures by understanding them via collaborations with these specific search engines.

These efforts are reflected in an update for Dolphin’s Android browser, announced along with the partnerships. The updated browser has customization features that are localized to each country, and you will see a different version based on which country you are in.

Dolphin’s VP of Business Development, Edith Yeung, explains: “If you are in Russia, the default search will be Yandex, not Google.  If you are in China, the default search would be Baidu.”

As for DuckDuckGo, Yeung explains that it acts as an alternative to Google, for those who have been turned off by concerns over PRISM and the privacy leaks that Edward Snowden revealed to the world.

In tandem with its localization efforts, Dolphin has also been updated with 21 languages. It also lets users choose from a variety of themes and colors, as well as set any existing picture the user has as a background. This complements Dolphin’s strategy of trying to act as an entertainment hub and portal for news, music and games, as it seeks to keep its users within the browser and away from native Android apps.

Sinking its roots deeper into international markets has always been Dolphin’s strategy. “The U.S. browser market is dominated by Google and Apple. However, the international market for mobile browsing has been left wide open,” says Dolphin CEO Yongzhi Yang.

However, Dolphin badly needs to be creative with its localization efforts for a break in the alternative browser market as competition heats up. To name a few, Opera Software, China’s UC Web Browser, Firefox and even Ubuntu are all jostling for a share of the audience in countries that are increasingly accessing the Internet via their mobiles first, and realizing that default Android browsers are not satisfactory.

➤ Dolphin Browser | Google Play

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