Despite failed attempts to combat Facebook on the social media front
with Google Plus -- Google revamped the app last month to make it more
relevant -- the search engine giant is once again going head to head
with its online rival. Reports suggest Google is building a brand
spanking new mobile messaging app that would contend with Facebook
Messenger.
Google is taking a different approach to online messaging, though. Google is using its artificial intelligence savvy and something it calls “chatbot technology” to make up for lost time in this vital market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The mobile messaging app market is rising rapidly. Last month, market research firm eMarketer predicted more than 1.4 billion consumers will use mobile phone messaging apps in 2015. That’s up a significant 31.6 percent over 2014. Put another way, 75 percent of smartphone users will use over-the-top mobile messaging apps at least once a month this year.
Why Google Is Getting In Now
So far, Google has been absent in this space. That has given Facebook Messenger (pictured) an easy advantage. Last year, the social media giant essentially forced all users to download the app if they wanted to read messages on their mobile phones. In September 2015, Facebook had 1.01 billion daily active users on average, according to the company’s stats.
However, Facebook also came late to the market, which had been dominated until last year by the likes of WhatsApp, WeChat, Line and Snapchat. Now it appears that Google is no longer willing to ignore the potential revenue stream and branding opportunity. Last month, eMarketer predicted the number of mobile messaging users will reach 2 billion -- 80 percent of smartphone users -- by 2018.
“Some of the key drivers of mobile messaging’s growth identified include consumers’ growing interest in intimate forums for social sharing, the multiple modes of communication offered by messaging apps and the growing number of features offered, including peer-to-peer payments and m-commerce,” Cathy Boyle, a senior analyst covering mobile at eMarketer, said at that time.
Can Google Succeed?
As for Google’s messaging app, the company plans to integrate software that answers questions and chatbots, according to the Journal, which cited “people familiar with the matter.” Google could not immediately be reached for comment. The company also declined to speak to the Journal.
“Users will be able to text friends or a chatbot, which will scour the Web and other sources for information to answer a question, those people said. It is unclear when Google will launch the service, or what it will be called,” the Journal’s Alistar Barr wrote in the article. “Also in doubt is whether the new approach will be more successful than the company’s prior efforts. Users typically join messaging services because they know other users; Google has struggled to create such network effects with both Hangouts and Messenger.”
We turned to Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insight at the Local Search Association, to get his thoughts on Google’s reported big move into the messaging app space. He told us messaging apps are huge globally and Facebook is the leader outside China but Facebook's success is no guarantee for Google.
“It's not clear this is a ‘must win’ for Google. Google has entered other markets late as a ‘follower’ and succeeded,” Sterling said. “Maps, Gmail and Android are such examples, where the company has enjoyed massive success. But there are contrary examples, when Google has acted ‘defensively,’ which have not gone as well. Google Plus is the most recent example.”
Google is taking a different approach to online messaging, though. Google is using its artificial intelligence savvy and something it calls “chatbot technology” to make up for lost time in this vital market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The mobile messaging app market is rising rapidly. Last month, market research firm eMarketer predicted more than 1.4 billion consumers will use mobile phone messaging apps in 2015. That’s up a significant 31.6 percent over 2014. Put another way, 75 percent of smartphone users will use over-the-top mobile messaging apps at least once a month this year.
Why Google Is Getting In Now
So far, Google has been absent in this space. That has given Facebook Messenger (pictured) an easy advantage. Last year, the social media giant essentially forced all users to download the app if they wanted to read messages on their mobile phones. In September 2015, Facebook had 1.01 billion daily active users on average, according to the company’s stats.
However, Facebook also came late to the market, which had been dominated until last year by the likes of WhatsApp, WeChat, Line and Snapchat. Now it appears that Google is no longer willing to ignore the potential revenue stream and branding opportunity. Last month, eMarketer predicted the number of mobile messaging users will reach 2 billion -- 80 percent of smartphone users -- by 2018.
“Some of the key drivers of mobile messaging’s growth identified include consumers’ growing interest in intimate forums for social sharing, the multiple modes of communication offered by messaging apps and the growing number of features offered, including peer-to-peer payments and m-commerce,” Cathy Boyle, a senior analyst covering mobile at eMarketer, said at that time.
Can Google Succeed?
As for Google’s messaging app, the company plans to integrate software that answers questions and chatbots, according to the Journal, which cited “people familiar with the matter.” Google could not immediately be reached for comment. The company also declined to speak to the Journal.
“Users will be able to text friends or a chatbot, which will scour the Web and other sources for information to answer a question, those people said. It is unclear when Google will launch the service, or what it will be called,” the Journal’s Alistar Barr wrote in the article. “Also in doubt is whether the new approach will be more successful than the company’s prior efforts. Users typically join messaging services because they know other users; Google has struggled to create such network effects with both Hangouts and Messenger.”
We turned to Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insight at the Local Search Association, to get his thoughts on Google’s reported big move into the messaging app space. He told us messaging apps are huge globally and Facebook is the leader outside China but Facebook's success is no guarantee for Google.
“It's not clear this is a ‘must win’ for Google. Google has entered other markets late as a ‘follower’ and succeeded,” Sterling said. “Maps, Gmail and Android are such examples, where the company has enjoyed massive success. But there are contrary examples, when Google has acted ‘defensively,’ which have not gone as well. Google Plus is the most recent example.”
