Google Voice Local Search the stuff of carrier nightmares

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 10 April 2007 16:50

Opinion and Analysis

Google Voice Local Search is one those beta services that outwardly may cause phone companies to snigger. Inwardly, however, voice carriers are probably feeling more than a little uncomfortable at the prospect of facing an increasingly powerful Internet competitor that wants to provide for free a similar service that they currently charge for.

In the US, users are now able to dial a special Google number 1-800-GOOG-411 and they'll be connected to an automated interactive voice response service that can find details of a local business depending on where they are.

Users can either say a business name or ask for listings of businesses under a category, choose one and be directly connected for free. Alternatively, mobile phone users can request details by SMS. The data is provided from the Google Maps.

From most accounts, the new Google service is more like an alpha product than a beta. Sometimes it works well; sometimes it works imperfectly; and sometimes it doesn't work at all.

However, like many of Google's works in progress, Google Voice Local Search has a market and is bound to get better. Google hasn't said how the new service is going to be monetized but you can bet your bottom dollar it will be an advertising based business model. The only downside is that users will probably still have to pay the cost of a phone call through their carrier.

Yes, phone companies may utter "Google Shmoogle" with disdain outwardly but in reality services like Google Voice Local Search is the stuff of their nightmares.