Google Launches US Directory Assistance

Nate Elliott | April 10, 2007, 04:02 AM

It was bound to happen, right? I don't have a ton of time to parse this, but Google has launched free directory assistance in the US.

I don't quite agree with Gary that US directory assitance is a "bad, overpriced system" -- I think they've made great strides recently in improving their service. (But yes, Gary, it is ridiculously overpriced.) And regardless of what you think of most regular 411 services, I think Goog411 has a lot of work to do before it's as useful. As Om points out, Google's offering first has to catch up with TellMe, then it can focus on catching up with actual operator-assisted 411.

Google being Google, its system relies upon voice-recognition technology -- with all its many problems -- rather than human operators. When I asked for a restaurant called 'Pizza Park' on 67th Street and 1st Avenue, the system couldn't understand the intersection. (According to the FAQ, if the system can't understand me I should simply "check out other free directory-assistance services.") Ask for a restaurant called '44 & X,' on 44th Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan, and its top two results are businesses on Wall Street and in Queens. I also couldn't get an address or a phone number from it -- the system dialled the business for me as soon as it found a result I was looking for. So if you get frustrated with voice prompts and voice recognition, or you want to write down a phone number or address, or the business you're looking for has an even slightly unusual name -- you might want to stick with regular 411 for a while. 411 operators can be frustrating, but not half as frustrating as talking to a computer.

To be fair, this is merely a beta launch -- and I'm sure the service will improve quite a bit in the next year or two. And if Google can get Goog411 to the point where it's as good as regular directory assistance, then it could certainly be a major disruption to 411 providers. But for now, the big news here is more that Google intends to enter the market -- rather than that they have a good, competitive offering in place.

Believe it or not, this launch might be good news for European phone companies and independent directory providers. Google launched local search in Europe much later than in the US, and I'd imagine free 411 will follow the same launch strategy. So you now have 12 to 18 months to figure out how to protect this business before Google comes after it. That should be just enough time.

The best way to protect the model? Probably to start breaking it yourself, and figure out the new ways you can monetize it. Jupiter clients, if you want to talk about this, give us a call.