{"id":358,"date":"2008-01-04T09:12:06","date_gmt":"2008-01-04T13:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/04\/goog-411-now-a-speedier-option-on-thomsonge-phones\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:34:47","slug":"goog-411-now-a-speedier-option-on-thomsonge-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/04\/goog-411-now-a-speedier-option-on-thomsonge-phones\/","title":{"rendered":"Goog-411 now a speedier option on Thomson\/GE phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg Sterling has noted a Thomson\/Google deal<\/a> that adds a one-touch, auto-dial GOOG-411 button into many of its latest GE-branded DECT 6.0\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 cordless phones. It should give Jingle’s Free 411 service a pause and it certainly raises questions about when Google will monetize its free DA service. Voice DA services are currently very lucrative<\/a> and free voice DA services have the potential to be very disruptive to them. LocalMobile notes no firm has been better at converting activity to revenue and profits than Google.<\/p>\n

As Greg pointed out from a recent LocalMobile survey 76.3% of respondents (n=671) said they had never used \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one of the free alternatives to carrier-provided 411 directory assistance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/em> And while Jingle 411 has some market share advantage in the remaining 24% of users, it is the larger group that will ultimately decide who wins in the disruptive Free 411 DA market. It is just this market that Google is targeting with the Thomson\/GE deal.<\/p>\n

The question for Thomson\/GE is: why would they agree to the arrangement? Thomson\/GE is not a corporation known for its easy going style and one assumes that they did not put the Goog-411 button on their phones for the warm and fuzzies of it. The April introduction date leaves me wondering if we might not see Goog-411 monetization in that timeframe.<\/p>\n

The one current drawback to the Goog-411 service in a consumer setting is the lack of residential listings. This consumer driven deal with Thomson might just also imply a move by Google to add residential listings in the same timeframe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greg Sterling has noted a Thomson\/Google deal that adds a one-touch, auto-dial GOOG-411 button into many of its latest GE-branded DECT 6.0\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 cordless phones. It should give Jingle’s Free 411 service a pause and it certainly raises questions about when Google will monetize its free DA service. Voice DA services are currently very lucrative and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-google-products-that-have-joined-the-google-graveyard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t