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Google To Shut Down 411 Service

Posted by Soulskill on from the guess-we're-back-to-calling-the-ghostbusters dept.

taco8982 writes "After three years of providing free directory assistance in exchange for voice samples, Google has announced plans to shut down the GOOG-411 service, in order to focus on 'speech-enabling the next generation of Google products and services across a multitude of languages.' The service will close on November 12th."

15 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. what? by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Never even heard of it. I wonder how many dozens of obscure Google services there are out there

    1. Re:what? by ajrs · · Score: 5, Funny

      Never even heard of it. I wonder how many dozens of obscure Google services there are out there

      If only there were some automated tool to find them all. A search engine, if you will....

    2. Re:what? by odies · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or a single page that lists them all.

    3. Re:what? by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or even something... authoritative.

      http://www.googlelabs.com/

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    4. Re:what? by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Agreed! I used it alot instead of shelling out $1.50 for 411 calls via Verizon..... crap....

      --
      You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
  2. Smartphones by MrEricSir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems like smartphones are making voice calls obsolete. GOOG-411 is a victim of http://www.google.com/

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Smartphones by Yocto+Yotta · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Hardly. When driving, I'd use voice activation to dial GOOG411 and be able to connect to any publicly listed number I desire without laying another finger on my phone. That's all sorts of awesome I can't do any other way right now. Well, for free anyhow.

      --
      A B A C A B B
  3. Sad day by AaxelB · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I for one am sad about this. I'm one of those holdouts who still doesn't have a (i|g|smart)phone, so it was nice to be able to call Google up to contact the restaurant I want to get reservations at, or anything like that. I can understand why they canceled it (they get way more voice data from Google Voice, I'm sure), but still, I'm a bit sad.

    Maybe I'll finally get a more intelligent phone now...

    1. Re:Sad day by Anti_Climax · · Score: 4, Informative

      Just SMS the name of the business to 46645 (googl) with your non-smart phone and get similar results messaged back

      --
      Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
    2. Re:Sad day by IronChef · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Texting is expensive and not a good idea while driving. I'll also really miss GOOG-411, with which I could search for a listing and get connected all over the handsfree.

    3. Re:Sad day by rm999 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You can thank competition: http://www.discoverbing.com/mobile/411/

      OTOH, msft copied Google on this one. Does that mean they will copy Google on discontinuing the service? ;)

    4. Re:Sad day by benedict · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Disco verbing"? What the hell is disco verbing?

      --
      Ben "You have your mind on computers, it seems."
  4. Sad Day! by odin84gk · · Score: 5, Informative

    Goog411 was amazing! No ads, good results. Thankfully I have a smartphone, but there were still times that Goog411 was faster than using my smartphone.

    I guess I will go back to 1-800-Free411

    1. Re:Sad Day! by ReallyEvilCanine · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It was free because they spent money to provide you a service in exchange for the voice clip they got from you. When you get stuff for free, it's not because you're the customer; you're the product.

  5. Re:Things just got more complicated by Asdanf · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually on Android the current flow is
    1. Hold down search button.
    2. Say "Call Company X, Anytown USA"

    So, they halved the number of steps required and removed the listening requirement.