Google prepared GOOG411 users for a sad ending to a favorite freebie on October 8, 2010. The Google Team posted "Goodbye to an Old Friend: 1-800-GOOG-411" and said that the 3 year old service would end on November 12, 2010. There will be alternative services available to help fill the gap left by a service so popular, phones are now made with a GOOG411 button.
Why is Google Ending GOOG411?
According to the Goog-411 team's blog post, the company is "putting all of our resources into speech-enabling the next generation of Google products and services," which suggests that the resources used by GOOG411 will be reallocated. Providing free directory assistance was actually a hook to get people to participate in the real motivation behind GOOG411: studying speech recognition services.
The research seems to be complete, because GOOG411 is moving in new directions to help users get the information that they would normally get from calling 1-800-GOOG411. GOOG411 fans are familiar with the text services from the current service; to get a phone number or address, just say, "text me" or "text message" and Google will text the information to your phone. There will still be directory assistance options, including text messaging, in Google's new plan.
Google's New Directory Assistance Resources
The 800-466-4411 wasn't perfect for smart phones. It is hard to dial GOOG411 on most smart phones, because many of the tiny keypads do not have letters the way land-line phones do. People had to program or memorize the actual number for directory assistance. The phone number will be replaced by a variety of services for smart phones, including:
- a voice search option, which will use speech recognition to search Google, which is a service that Bing already offers for smart phones, and
- voice action and input options, which will allow Android users to fill in text fields and use voice commands to control their phones.
There will also be a texting option, which is already live. If you want to know the directory information, text Google at 466453 and they will send you a response with the phone number and address information. This is the only non-smart phone resource that will be available.
People who do not have smart phones can still depend on Google's texting service to help find phone numbers and addresses, and people with smart phones can start playing with the new servives by downloading the Google Mobile app. To relive the good old days with GOOG411, check out the Google voice researchers' Youtube video that kicked off the service in September, 2007. After that, head over m.google.com/search on your smart phone and start discovering what's been cooking in Google Labs.
Source:
Google's GOOG-411 team published "Goodbye to an Old Friend: 1-800-GOOG-411" on the Official Google Blog on October 8, 2010.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
