Google 411



Google 411

Something “neat” from Google!

Google introduced an experimental (but functional!) “Voice Local Search” today in Google Labs. “Voice Local Search” is Google-speak for “free 411 business listing service that works using speech recognition.” The key word here is free. My cellular carrier charges $1.49 per 411 call and I think my landline service charges $0.49. Google’s “Goog-411” service charges $0.00! It does not do residential listings, so we’ll still have to pay for these, at least for now. If you’re calling from a cell phone you can tell the service to send you the search results via an SMS text message. You can even simply tell it your town and “pizza” and get what you need!

Go ahead and turn over a little bit more of your soul to the great corporate juggernaut that is Google and try Goog-411 today! Hooray! [link via TechCrunch]


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Posted on April 6, 2007 at 9:38 pm by Adam Stanhope
Category: Advertising, Blog & Internet

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10 comments to "Google 411"

  • leslie
    April 6th, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    That is pretty cool - it won’t be long until they get the residential I’ll hazard a bet.

    Have you seen moon.google.com? it doesn’t show the whole moon, but at least they have it started (and check out the maximum zoom, it shows the true nature of moon rocks, I swear, they look just like…)

  • jnb
    April 6th, 2007 at 11:02 pm

    For at least a year, Google has offered 411 free via text message- all you have to do is text message “GOOGL” (45545) with a business name or type and a city or zip code, and within sixty seconds, it’ll text you back an address and phone number.

  • Allen
    April 6th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

    A service like that has existed for a while — 1-800-FREE-411. Same idea, supported by relevant advertising.

  • astanhope
    April 6th, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    Leslie:

    I’ll check out moon.google.com. Sounds neat! Thanks!

  • astanhope
    April 6th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    jnb:

    I have used the Google SMS service in several REAL LIFE SITUATIONS when I was traveling by car around the northeast last summer. On several occasions I used it to get hotel and restaurant info for towns I was visiting. Great service!

  • Matt
    April 7th, 2007 at 2:47 am

    Ummm yahoo has a yellow pages and its free….

  • Search Engine Web
    April 7th, 2007 at 8:17 am

    There is another option :-)
    800 Free 411

    which has defaut voice recognition - and eventually, a live operator if needed

  • astanhope
    April 7th, 2007 at 9:22 am

    Yes, Matt, thank you. The Yellow Pages on my desk also has The Yellow Pages - and it’s free. I don’t usually bring it along with me when I’m traveling, though.

  • Runa
    April 8th, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    It seems great, I hope it will work in other languages too!

  • Erik
    April 9th, 2007 at 2:14 pm

    There’s a couple of big difference between 1800Free411 and Goog-411 services:

    1. Google connects you directly to the business you are looking for, while 800Free411 does not (it only connects you to one of its advertisers if you happen to be interested in the offer).

    2. There are no ads on Goog-411.

    Google wins again! :)

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