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1-800-Google Launches
The Webguy wrote to mention a C|Net article talking about Google's newest toy - Local Voice Search. The service is dirt simple: you call a 1-800 number and, via voice recognition software, say the category of business you're trying to reach. You can also try for a specific name, though the C|Net blogger had some problems with that. The Google Blog has been updated with details as well: "Google Voice Local Search lets you search for local businesses from any phone and for free. If you're in the US, call 1-800-GOOG-411 and say what you want to find. Here are some of the features -You can find a business listing by category. Just say "pizza," for example. You can send the listing details to your mobile phone via SMS. The service is fully automated, so it doesn't rely on human operators. It connects you directly to the business, free of charge."
.... just how does Google plan to make money from this? Sure it takes away business from traditional directory based searches, but I still fail to see how the cash that those services would get end up in Google's pocket. I'm sure that if I'm missing something that /.'ers will point out what that something is.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
One difference is that in the dot-com era, you saw companies valued billions operating in a market that was worth a fraction of that - in the hope that in the "new economy" there would suddenly be billions of new dollars pouring into all possible sectors of the economy. In contrast, Google is profitable, this service must have been set up with a smallish (50?) number of employees, and the DA 411 market is worth some 8 billion dollars per year - and that is before advertisement is taken into account. So your comparison does not run very deep.
I see it as a way for them to know what people are searching for, just like their google search engine. You'd be surprised to know how much that sort of information can be worth to companies.
There's a few key differences. First, Google is already profitable. Second, Google adds services over time, whereas many of the dot-com rushers tries to do everything at once. Google has the brand recognition and strong history to even the most novice of Internet users required that none of the dot-com guys, even with their tens of millions of marketing dollars, had.
With Google being a public company, they have more incentive to retain services than other service companies. They have far more to lose if they close a service than if, say, Webmail.us folded, since e-mail is all Webmail.us does. That reason alone will force them to keep large, successful services like Gmail alive, even if it is eventually in a reduced form.