Google Voice Local Search Live

10th April 2007

There has been some speculation about this, and rumours picked up when Microsoft announced plans to acquire TellMe. Now Google have proved the rumour mills right by going ahead and launching Google Voice Local search.

Google Voice Local Search

The new service is currently in beta and can be accessed from the Google Labs site. It provides toll-free voice-activated search functionality for local business listings in the USA only.

Users can call the toll free number 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411). An operator asks for the location (city and state) and then category of business or business name. Users need to just speak what they are searching for. A rather sophisticated voice recognition system then mines results.

For category searches, the first 8 results are read out. Users can be connected to the businesses for free by just saying the number of the listing. For business names, the system offers to connect the user directly or to provide address and phone number details. Results can also be sent by SMS for free.

At present, the system does not include sponsored links, and so it doesnt need to differentiate organic listings from paid.

Tags: google, google voice, search, voice

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AccuraCast : 15 October 2007 at 6:49 pm

Update: Google Voice Local Search, GOOG-411 is now officially out of beta. Details about this service can be found at http://www.google.com/goog411/

Discussion on social networks & blogs

Nuance Launches GPS-Based Mobile Voice Search Solution | Search Daily News : 9 August 2007 at 3:50 pm

[...] Mobile voice search is not a new concept in itself. Google have release in beta a voice-activated local search system back in April this year. Their system is free, unlike the one by Nuance, and is likely to gain much more traction once it is made available. “Combining speech recognition with GPS functionality allows easy access to feature-rich location-based capabilities using simple voice commands”, said Michael Thompson, VP of mobile search and communications at Nuance. [...]
Nielsen Mobile Reports Questionable Mobile Search Statistics | AccuraCast Search Daily News : 18 January 2010 at 10:02 pm

[...] about mobile users in this report shows that roughly 61 percent of 411 users are female, while about 60 percent of WAP users are male. SMS searches are used mainly by [...]