Google has launched Google Voice Local Search, an experimental directory assistance service using speech recognition over telephones that allows people to search for local businesses. Callers could dial in from any phone to use the free, voice-activated service, which is available on the experimental Google Labs Web site. The number to dial is 1-800-GOOG-411. A note posted on the Google Labs site stated, “Using this service, you get fast access to the same local information you’d find on Google Maps.”
It seems odd to me that there's so little comparison to the first free 411 service, 1-800-Free411 (aka, Jingle). While Goog-411 has business information, 1-800-Free411 has business, government, and residential information. This alone indicates which is the better option, but then there's also the fact that 1-800-Free411 has live operator assistance in case something you're searching for something that's hard to pronounce. And since 1-800-Free411 has rolled out with category search, there's really no question about which is better. While Google may have set this up in competition with Microsoft's TellMe purchase, they've totally failed to notice that their service doesn't compare well with 1-800-Free411.
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Google Delivers Local Search to Mobile Phones
Posted by: Tim Gray April 9, 2007 02:09 PMGoogle has launched Google Voice Local Search, an experimental directory assistance service using speech recognition over telephones that allows people to search for local businesses. Callers could dial in from any phone to use the free, voice-activated service, which is available on the experimental Google Labs Web site. The number to dial is 1-800-GOOG-411. A note posted on the Google Labs site stated, “Using this service, you get fast access to the same local information you’d find on Google Maps.”