You may have heard some rumors about major search engines becoming interested in VoIP. But VoIP is a telephony technology; it has nothing to do with search, right? Well...yes and no. Keep reading to find out the connection, and why those who advertise with search engines should sit up and take notice of the potential behind this technological pairing.
Rumors run rampant in any field where a lot of money is at stake, and that’s as true in technology as it is elsewhere. Some of the latest rumors in the SEO field say that Google and several of the other top search engines (Yahoo and MSN in particular) are looking to get into voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), a growing field that already boasts a respectable number of competitors. The first question that comes to mind is, do these rumors have any basis in fact? This is rapidly followed by the second question: why?
Let’s address the first question first. While these rumors may have started earlier, they gained fuel recently at the Spring 2005 Voice on the Net conference. CNET reported speaking with a VoIP executive who insisted on remaining anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the news. According to this anonymous source, a Google management team met with several VoIP service providers. What did Google discuss with them? “They were fairly aggressive about getting our opinions,” CNET quoted the source as saying.
It’s particularly telling in this case that Google sent some strong representation to the 6000-member conference. Nine Google employees attended, including Google product manager Eric Sachs. It’s also worth mentioning that Sachs has ties to a founder of an Internet phone service.
As for Yahoo and MSN, they already offer a kind of phone service that uses their instant messaging software and a PC. Microsoft even plans to add voice calling to its enterprise instant messaging software. Adding to this rumor mill is a kernel of fact from a company not mainly known for search: AOL. The Internet service provider reported at the conference that it will be launching a VoIP service across its broadband network. It will only be available to AOL customers at first, but observers expect the company to expand this offering beyond its own customer network.
So, from the look of things, the rumors seem to have at least some basis in fact. That brings us to the second question: why? What do these companies stand to gain? Or, put another way: what exactly do Internet search and VoIP have in common, besides the Internet?
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