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Google's New Click-to-Call Service

Posted by samzenpus on Wed Nov 23, 2005 07:21 PM
from the let-google-do-the-walking dept.
Businesses Google The Internet News
teknopagan writes "Google has debuted a new service called Click-to-Call, in which they will connect you by phone to any of their advertisers. You click a phone icon next to the ad, enter your phone number, and Google calls you and connects you for free to the advertiser."
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  • Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by XorNand (517466) * on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:22PM (#14104785)
    Pure genius.

    I'd love to know the technology behind this. Given Google's commitment to FOSS, I would venture to guess that they are using Asterisk [asterisk.org] somewhere in the mix since it's one of the most flexible and mature open source telephony projects. However, Asterisk isn't known for scaling very well when you start talking about enterprise level installs. In fact, one of the biggest complaints of the Asterisk community is that VoIP providers routinely hack the source to improve scalability and stability, but then never release those changes back to the project. If indeed Google is using Asterisk, it will be interesting to see how much they support the developer community.

    • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Informative)

      by sr180 (700526) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:42PM (#14104921) Journal
      Asterisk isnt really appropriate for this. They dont want to build a call server or PBX equivalent. They need an IVR that simply makes calls and connects the two parties. Something like Telco Perl [skunkworks.net.au] is much more appropriate for this.

    • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Justifiable_Delusion (759339) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:44PM (#14104933) Homepage
      I must say...Google continues to astound me. Continually they offer services which rewrite the rulebook. They are moving forward into new areas while others are simply wading and reacting, hoping to catch crumbs and turn them into silver while Google is reaping a harvest of diamonds and platinum. There is a reason google's tock just broke 400 and flew past it. And there is a reason they are hiring teh greatest minds in our country.

      I for one welcome our new search engine overlords...who knew?
    • For people like me who prefer phone communications over e-mail(*Prepares sheild for attack*), this is the best technology that I SHOULD have thought of first. And to think, I'd have made a killing if I just saved that damn dinner napkin....

    • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Funny)

      by poopdeville (841677) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:04PM (#14105036)
      Pure genius.

      Indeed. I'm going to start making google prank call my friends immediately!

    • No, this is just some lame tech that's been around for a couple of years on some yellow pages-type sites. Almost nobody uses it. I'm not sure which companies offer this, but I do know it's available. Vonage's Click 2 Call is the exact same technology, although I'm not sure if it's available for this use or not (http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=click _ 2_call [vonage.com]).

      Quit heaping the praise on Google when they don't deserve it. They've done enough cool things that they don't need to get credit when they do

        • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by TooMuchToDo (882796) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:06PM (#14105047)
          This isn't a feature so everyone can have free calls. This is something Google can show off to their Google Ad customers, to help them drive more revenue.

          Note to Slashdot readers: It's not a crime to be in business to make money. It's the way you do it that matters. Google just happens to be very good at making money in a very friendly way.

          • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Insightful)

            by joto (134244) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:20PM (#14105123)
            This isn't a feature so everyone can have free calls. This is something Google can show off to their Google Ad customers, to help them drive more revenue.

            Obviously it is a feature so everyone can have free calls. If not, it would be easier to just list the phone-number to the advertiser, so I could call it myself.

            The fact that I can only get free calls to someone who is trying to sell me something is the thing that drives googles revenue.

            Is it something that I'm likely to ever use? No. Is it something that some marketers can be excited about? Probably. I trust google did some research before creating this service. Which makes me conclude that I have to become more cynical with regard to how many stupid people this planet contains. I could never be good in marketing, I have a tendency to assume people are intelligent.

            • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Interesting)

              by Breakfast Pants (323698) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:47PM (#14105257) Journal
              The purpose of not listing the number is so that google can charge the advertiser for this service. Also it acts as a protection against scammers who use your phone number as a way to ID you for nefarious purposes. If all you want to ask is "can your product do X?" you perhaps don't want them to know all of your identification.

        • Re:Are they using Asterisk? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by miyako (632510) <miyako@gmail. c o m> on Wednesday November 23 2005, @10:43PM (#14105750) Homepage Journal
          I can't speak for any other slashdotters, but I can immediately think of two reasons why this service could be useful.
          The first is that I have a fair few family members who are completely computer illiterate. Once every couple of months they call me wanting to buy some obscure thing, and I have to google for it, find a couple of sites, read what is available and what the cost is to them over the phone. They write it down on a bit of paper and call me back in a few days to tell me what they want, I drive over there, get some cash or a check, deposit it into the bank, wait for the deposit to go through, get online, and order it for them. This is a pain that could be largely mitigated by me simply being able to google and then enter their phone number and allow them to talk to a representitive.
          The second thing that I think this could be useful for is for helping smaller sites build trust with customers. I know there have been a few sites that I have decided not to buy from simply because the site looked unprofessional and I wasn't sure I could really trust the site to A: not steal my information, or B: actually deliver what I buy. In this case I think that smaller and lesser known sites might benefit from this service.

  • I can see someone abusing this (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Snarfangel (203258) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:22PM (#14104787) Homepage
    ..especially if they have the phone number of someone they don't like.
    • That's interesting. *click* Though I don't see *click* why anyone would be *click* so *click* mean *click* and nasty to annoy people *click* with constant *click* phone *click* ringing in real life. *click*
    • I can see someone abusing this

      That's a good point.

      It also raises the question: How will this interact with the Do Not Call bill that was passed a while ago? According to the bill, companies that have a past relationship with you are exempt from the blacklist. If you put your number into one of these boxes are you opening yourself up to get calls from hundreds of telemarketing companies all under one big corporate umbrella?

      This is Slashdot, yet I haven't seen anyone concerned about privacy yet. I guess that since we're talking about Google, all anyone can do is "Oooh" and "Aaah" over this. Depending on how this is implemented, it could open the door for all sorts of problems with privacy and annoying telemarketers.

  • Phone Sex (Score:5, Funny)

    by fembots (753724) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:22PM (#14104789) Homepage
    Not that this is the first and only thing in my mind, but if phone sex operators are using this service......

  • recording. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    are they recording the call as well?

  • all right! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:23PM (#14104797)
    prank calls have now reached a new frontier!

  • privacy vs authentication (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anakron (899671) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:24PM (#14104799)
    How do they make sure that the number entered is indeed from the person interested in the product? What stops me from entering (say) Darl McBride's number a million times?

    • Re:privacy vs authentication (Score:5, Interesting)

      by XorNand (517466) * on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:46PM (#14104947)
      If I were designing the system, the service would call you first and when you answered, it would say "This is Google Click-to-call. Press 1 to connect to the advertiser, press 2 if you didn't make this request". If you pressed 2, it would blacklist the number for a while.

      The biggest bummer for some advertisers is that I doubt that it'll work for callers behind a phone system and without a direct number. The callback number will just go to a receptionist or to IVR (auto-attendant) greeting. There goes much of B2B market.

  • If Google knows everything (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:24PM (#14104803)
    Don't they know the reason that I use the web is because I don't like the phone?

    • Re:If Google knows everything (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kebes (861706) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:33PM (#14104860) Journal
      True... often I use the web because it's much more efficient than trying to talk to someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

      On the other hand, one thing I hate about calling a business is that I have to wait on hold for a very long time. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to give them my phone number, and then they can call me when they have a rep available? I'll be in my office all day... and typically I don't get as many calls as they do, so when they call I probably won't be busy. It just makes sense.

      And besides, if I'm thinking about buying a product, and then I have to wait on hold, I'll probably give up and not buy it. If, on the other hand, I can just type in my number and wait for the vendor to get hold of me, then it's much more likely to work out for everyone (me and vendor). I know in the past I've done this before with some companies. They have a web form, you enter the info, and a short while later you get a phone call from someone (who has presumably read your question/request and is ready with an answer/offer). Google is formalizing this system, making it a snap to put customers in touch with companies.

      In short, I think it's a good idea.
    • Don't they know the reason that I use the web is because I don't like the phone?

      Don't you know that you don't have to use this service if you don't want to?
  • Wow, a useful and impressive innovation, although I'm certain that the "Live Chat" software providers are probably stewing in their cauldron over this one. I wonder, though: could this be abused by phreakers? With the digital age of IP Telephony, let us live in interesting times! ~d

  • Brilliant idea. (Score:5, Funny)

    by xdroop (4039) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:26PM (#14104813) Homepage Journal
    Here I am looking at male enhancement products... what's Taco's phone number again?

  • Your phone number (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ornil (33732) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:27PM (#14104821)
    According to the FAQ the advertiser can't see your phone number, so they can't add you to their list and annoy you if you decide not to order anything from them. That's pretty nice.
    • Google most likely acts as a middle man.

      They call you AND the advertiser, then connect together when both callers are ready. I also agree with above posters, Asterisk is most likely being used here. Other programs/systems like it cost INSANE amounts of money. In-house then releasing it to the community is probably alot cheaper. FOSS that really works!

  • Example? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Prometheus+Bob (755514) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:28PM (#14104828)
    Does anyone have an example of a link that shows this? I've tried googling IBM, business, computer...I cant find where this mythical phone icon is I should be looking for.
  • The reason is (or seems to be) that Google blocks your number from them. The advertiser can't see your number. I guess that means you won't get telemarketing calls or something?

    How long until they integrate this with Google Talk?

  • just a thought (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ladyjane_calm (919495) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:30PM (#14104842)
    will our children mock google the way our generation mocks microsoft?

  • Wow...too bad it is restricted to Google... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by skogs (628589) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:31PM (#14104846) Journal
    I wish this was everywhere. Not necessarily because I want to talk to every advertiser, but because I would love to be able to talk to these jerks sometimes. Really, if you got a spam email, wouldn't it be better if you could then just click, and be connected with them and tell them what you think about their -bodypart- enhancement, or their new guaranteed -success at something-? This would be an excellent feedback mechanism to increase the cost of internet advertising so that every hokey jerk out there cannot bombard me mindlessly. I enjoy google ads, I like those for the most part, and the do work. Targeted ads work. I wish I could provide feedback to the dimwads that do not target their marketing. I wish I could feeback to those that abuse my bandwidth.

  • awesome (Score:4, Insightful)

    by circletimessquare (444983) <(circletimessquare) (at) (gmail.com)> on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:35PM (#14104873) Homepage
    why ddos someone's website when you can ddos their phone network

    is that all of the telephones ringing in the office at the same time i hear?

  • Cool idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AutopsyReport (856852) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:41PM (#14104914)
    Okay, cool idea. Except how many people actually click their ad links (I've never clicked one in my life), let alone would actually call these advertisers?

  • Click-to-Call? Come on...where's the G? (Score:5, Funny)

    by ip_freely_2000 (577249) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @07:49PM (#14104962)
    What a boring name. No GClick, GCall, or G-Click-to-Call?

    They just don't put the effort into their naming schemes like they used to.

  • Google Space launched too (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Lord Satri (609291) <`ten.xuorel' `ta' `erdnaxela'> on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:08PM (#14105064) Homepage Journal
    Busy day for Google?
    The Mysan website announces the new Google Space for London's Heathrow Airport [mysan.de]. From the article: "A half of British passengers surveyed said they had nothing better to do in airport terminals than eat, drink and shop. [...] To answer this demand, on Thursday 24 November, Google is launching Google Space at Heathrows Terminal One. Google Space is a laboratory comprising Google pods, which travellers can access for free once through security to log onto the Internet, check their mail and use Google tools to find out about their destination."

  • :D (Score:5, Interesting)

    by HunterZ (20035) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:33PM (#14105180) Homepage Journal
    Sweet! Now I'm just waiting for someone write some bots to connect advertisers to EACH OTHER! Phone DoS!

  • jumping on the bandwagon (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eagl (86459) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:46PM (#14105252) Journal
    Maybe I'm just easily excitable but that sounds like a neat idea. Cross-license with ebay and skype, flavor with paypal, and you can call from your computer and buy stuff without picking up the phone or even pulling out your credit card to read out the numbers or giving your address.

    Yea it's consumerism and capitalistic BS, but who wouldn't give a pinky finger to have the rights to the tech and marketing concept?

  • Google is great. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rice_burners_suck (243660) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:47PM (#14105258)
    They are quite imaginative in their approach to advertising. I wonder if the advertiser will have to pay Google each time someone is connected via phone (for other than phone charges), and whether, as an advertiser, you can limit the number of phone calls that will take place (to, say, five per hour), in case you're just a small business without hundreds of operators standing by.

  • I can see it now... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cwsulliv (522390) * <cwsulliv@triad.rr.com> on Wednesday November 23 2005, @11:57PM (#14106038)
    Google connects you to the advertiser and you get the usual recorded announcement: "Please hold for the next available operator. Due to the high volume of calls this may take some time. For faster service please visit our website."
       

      • You couldn't be more wrong (Score:5, Insightful)

        by TubeSteak (669689) on Wednesday November 23 2005, @08:38PM (#14105211) Journal
        You either don't like corporations or you're trolling.
        Either way, your statements are wrong.

        A corporation is created for a variety of reason like limiting liability or creating an 'ongoing concern'. Corporations can be used to raise funds. Can you sell 10,000 shares of stock in a partnership?

        The main reason anyone files for articles of incorporation is to separate the business from themselves. If your corporation tanks, creditors won't come after your house, your car and your savings account. If you are the business, everything you own is on the line.


        Further, I take issue with your blanket statement that "it is simply evil to have the power." Is it evil for police to own guns? Is it evil for you or I to own them? Is a pointed stick evil?

        Like anything else, a corporation (or a gun) is neither good nor evil. It is neutral. You can go file for articles of incorporation and then do nothing with them... and guess what? Neither you nor the world becomes 'more' evil.

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