I don't get why they're saying that "mobile apps have a fairly short life span" and search does not. I've now worked on two apps that have a ~10 year life span. And it's easier to replace backend software; 1) it's harder to replace mobile apps (you don't have as much control with what goes on on the client-side, when updates will happen, etc.) and 2) mobile apps are more likely to have to make you support APIs longer (because people may be slow to upgrade or even stop upgrading altogether).
