How Google Has Ruled Online Communication
When pitting Google against other companies, it’s hard to find a race they wouldn’t win. When comparing search engines, it almost feels blasphemous to put Google on the same level of Yahoo and Bing. After all, no one says “Just go home and Bing that,” and Yahoo! Mail makes up only 4% of total email users, compared to Google’s half a billion gmail accounts that make up 15%. Their company also consistently proves their staying power in the technological realm with the release of all kinds of new innovative technologies (like the Google Glass, and their in-beta driverless car, set to come out in 2019) and they’re one of the greenest IT conglomerates on the planet. But on top of all that, one of Google’s most important crowns continues to be that of Communications King -and they continue to perfect the art of online interaction.
Gmail Reigns Supreme
Gmail users have several added benefits to their email experience that others don’t. They can make VoIP calls and texts straight from their inbox, send instant messages, and they were the first to offer free, unlimited storage space, which opened an entirely new realm of possibility for users whose Gmail accounts linked to their work lives.
When looking at the variety of email servers to choose from, it’s easy to see who stands out. In 2013, Google experienced a 25% increase in their Gmail users – easily overshadowing the 4% drop in Hotmail and Yahoo. When looking at the future of email, current numbers point to an all-Gmail world. And with free IMAP access, no one is complaining.
Hangouts: Here to Stay
While Google Hangouts initially hit the scene as a Google-based Skype competitor, it has since proven to be useful for many different purposes, particularly online marketing. Hangouts enable businesses to schedule online conferences that can include up to nine other people, which can be their clients, influencers, or simply experts with questions. Various tools allow these meetings to be recorded as well, so they can be posted to social pages, shared via email, and easily spread across the internet.
Hangouts created a new platform for answering questions, providing customized customer support, personalizing a brand by giving them an easy – and literal way – to show their faces in live-sessions, and improving upon our current means of visual marketing. You can stream your Hangout session directly to Youtube, which both ties your social media audiences to your Youtube account and supports and encourages interaction with your visual followers. In the future, Hangouts is even anticipated to be the new “Press Conference” model, where businesses can announce important updates and respond to major news events via this interactive video tool.
A Different Kind of Communication
Even if we look past the basic call, video, text level of conversation, Google is also beginning to streamline another more unspoken kind of communication that is also very important – that of the dialog between the online retailer and buyer.
The Google Glass invention was highly-anticipated because, well, they’re really cool looking. They’re considered to be one of the first real “wearable tech” gadgets, and faced immediate popularity, as they sold out of the most coveted “white” frames within the first day of sale. But Glass isn’t just groundbreaking simply because of it’s futuristic form, as the seamless process with which Google Glass users can shop online has begun to redefine eCommerce.
While mobile apps and barcode scanners have done a bit of their part, as it’s now easier than ever to look up an item on Amazon to see if you’d like to buy it in person or online depending on the price, Google Glass has taken it a step further, as it offers every aspect of the buying process you could want – and it takes a matter of seconds.
When a Google Glass user finds an item they like while they’re shopping locally, they can simply scan the barcode and immediately compare the price of the item in the store to the lowest price found online. If a better price is found, Google offers you two options: order it online with the tap of a finger, or, let Google find a local store that offers that better price. This means shopping for the best price is easier – and local retailers are going to have to respond to the growing competition from online sellers. The main obstacle that many online retailers have faced has always been the buyer’s desire to have their item now – with Google Glass, their improved price comparisons make it easier for the online retailer to justify the delivery wait, or connect the buyer with the retailer’s local address.
Connect Through Google
No matter what kind of communication you may need – be it a supportive email service that is virtually hacker-proof, or a platform on which you can communicate with an office as small as five people or a company as large as five hundred – Google’s got you. Read more below to find out exactly how Google has changed the face of communications.
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