Scary Google Voice
p2pnet news view | Advertising:- “Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a free Google-owned Internet service that uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to link customers’ phone numbers,” says a Wikipedia post, also noting:
“On July 1, 2009, Google Voice provided users that had set up their account before, to change their number. For a $10 fee, users can change their number to any of the new numbers that Google purchased.”
But Google is a nothing but a massive online advertising agency dressed up to look like a service, and you know anything and everything it does will in some way or another be hooked into that reality.
Now, “Google is already thinking of the ways of monetizing Voice” in the way it, “knows best,” says UnwiredView, going on, “Through advertising. And it just might work.”
It continues, “When I use my phone, there is actually one time, when I wouldn`t really mind listening to some short audio adverts. Especially if Google can make them relevant to me.”
Oh, really? But even supposing that was even vaguely accurate, when would that time be?
When you “dial the number” and the person you called, “answers the phone” — “Filled with those boring beeps or stupid ringback tones from the operator.”
Oh.
But hang on.
It’d have to be so short as to be virtually subliminal.
And that’s exactly where Google wants to, “insert their short audio advertisements, described in a patent app ‘Ringback advertising’,” says the story, reproducing the diagram below from the patent application, which kicks off with:
“Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, in which an indication of a telephone call being placed from a calling number is received, and a determination is made of an audio advertisement to play based on the calling number. The audio advertisement is played based on the determination.”
Google is, “thinking about setting the self serving audio advertising system in a way that is pretty similar to how Google Adwords works,” says UnwiredView, “Complete with auction bidding, Listen Through Ratio and quality scores.”
If Google Voice, “gains traction with tens of millions of users throughout the world, this can open another pretty nice income stream to Google,” says the story, adding:
“And with the targeting capabilities that Google will have if it connects your Google Voice to everything it knows about you through your main Google account, this might get pretty interesting and even a bit scary.
“Especially if you add all the info that your Android phone, or any other mobile device with installed Google Voice client, can collect about you.”
Ring ring.
‘Who’s there?’
‘Google.’
Phk off.
(Cheers, surfer)
UnwiredView – Google to monetize Voice via ringback advertising auctions?, July, 2009
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July 21st, 2009 at 10:31 am
well as i don’t use much of anything google if i can avoid it there goes the only thing that i did with regularity!! ah well c’est la vie !
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
“But Google is a nothing but a massive online advertising agency dressed up to look like a service”
I think the concept behind Google voice is that when you call someone, it’s the *person* you are trying to reach, and not any specific device: if I want to call my friend Dave, I shouldn’t have to worry about whether to use his mobile or his home or office number or skype account or anything. It makes perfect sense to have only one unique number per person for life, and to let Dave decide which one of his devices or phones should ring at any given time!
So is gv a relevant service that adds value to its users: YES, regardless of how they manage to monetize it!
In my opinion, more importantly than how they will finally manage to discretely slip in some form of advertisement (probably location-based), there is actually one main problem: not going berzerk trying to get your new unique number to all the people out there who still have your old business cards and skype accounts and mobile numbers etc. But there are ways to work around that, e.g. I highly recommend using a dynamic contact updater like http://www.avakit.com to make that inital transition easier…