It's Back! Here's Your 2019 PWA Bracket Challenge

Days are getting longer, flowers are starting to bloom, and the smell of Spring is in the air. We all know what that means...it’s March Madness season! As 64 teams are gearing up to compete in this year’s tournament (and we’re seeing a lot more team spirit pop up in the office), we’re also prepping ourselves for another very important part of March: our annual PWA Bracket Challenge! 

In last year’s inaugural bracket challenge, we pitted 16 PWAs against each other to compete based on Lighthouse Audit scores, and the results put our favorite coffee chain Starbucks in the winners’ circle. But this year–thanks to 2018 being a banner year for PWA adoption–we’ve got an almost entirely rookie bracket. Let’s take a look at the Sweet 16 picks…

Some great variety coming out of the gate this year. We’ve got frontrunners Trivago and Airbnb coming in hot from the travel industry, reigning champion Starbucks still holding down the food & beverage industry, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NFL putting sports on the map, and lots of retail brands we know and love like Walmart, 1-800-Flowers, and more. One thing’s for sure in this first round–brands across all industries are realizing the power behind PWAs and rushing to adopt them.

Since the bracket brand landscape has broadened in scope this year, we’ve got a few new categories we’re going to be judging on:

Sweet 16: Use Case Matchups We’ve paired brands based on industry and use case and will be judging on overall experience–how it looks, feels, and functions on mobile, and the overall use of PWA functionality

Elite 8: Lighthouse Audit Scores The Elite 8 will go head-to-head and compete based on the 5 categories in the Lighthouse Audit–Google’s standard audit protocol for stellar mobile web experiences

Final 4: ROI & Results This round is based on the results these PWAs yielded for not only their users, but also the brands behind them!

Championship: Overall Experience The final 2 will go head-to-head based on overall experience–similar to our Sweet 16 criteria.

Get into the competitive spirit with us! Check out these PWAs (on mobile, of course) to see the power of these PWAs for yourself. (Pro-tip: save to your home screen for the full effect! On Android, you should be prompted with an “Install” CTA, and on iPhone, you can simply tap the “Share” button on Safari, then scroll right to the “Add to Home Screen” button, and follow the prompts from there.)

• Spotify
• Twitter
• Pure Formulas
• 1-800 Flowers
• NFL
• IMS
• Tommy Bahamas
• Walmart
• Uber
• Airbnb
• Pinterest
• American Airlines
• Trivago
• Carnival
• Starbucks
• BMW

We’ll be posting live PWA Bracket Challenge updates on Twitter, and we’ll be back on the blog for your Final 4 update next week. May your favorite PWA win!