Goog-411 calls now completed by bandwidth.com

November 23, 2007

Goog-411 calls now completed by bandwidth.com

Category: Goog-411,Google Places (Maps & Local) – Mike Blumenthal – 12:00 pm

Reader, Bob Brenly, has pointed out that Goog-411 calls are now completed by bandwidth.com in both the US and Canada as announced on any Goog-411 call.

I am curious about this change. Have they switched call completion providers? Why is it necessary to declare the provider at all?

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2 Comments »

I too noticed the switch.

I presumed that both this and the previous mention of (I think) Level 3 Communications were a toe in the water of ad sponsorship.

Or, alternatively (and in a similar vein), they were allowing a “sponsor” to pick up the actual cost of call-completion as a precursor to a truly ad-driven model.

Comment by Will Scott (83 comments) — November 26, 2007 @ 6:03 pm
Hi Will-

Yes, I looked and Level 3 was noted as the service making call completion for Goog-411 last May.

In a blog entry last fall a commenter noted that VOIP, Inc was doing call completion for the click to call feature that was being tested in Maps.

Obviously, google has tried a bunch of these folks…hey maybe we can start a buyout rumour?

Comment by Mike Blumenthal (1957 comments) — November 26, 2007 @ 8:07 pm