Google appears to be rolling out a messaging feature to Google My Business customers. Both Mike Blumenthal and @AnthonyCGuzman posted that they and their customers are starting to notice the feature within Google My Business. This is a feature Google began testing in November of last year. Google has confirmed this is now fully rolling out to businesses in the US and I am personally able to test it on businesses that I have access to under my Google My Business account. When you go to the Google My Business home page, you will see this new section for Messaging on the left and an option in the middle promoting it saying, Message with customers. After you click on it the first time, you need to configure the mobile number of the Allo device you want it to connect to. Then, after you verify the number, it lets you set up an autoreply to customers who use the feature: Now, once it is set up, when someone sees your company's local panel in mobile search, they will see a message icon, which they can click: On iOS, it takes the customer to their native messaging app and lets them message the business: Then the business owner gets a message in Allo or their native messaging app so they can respond: Postscript: A Google spokesperson has confirmed with Search Engine Land that this feature is fully rolling out out now. The post Google begins rolling out messaging feature within Google My Business appeared first on Search Engine Land. According to a new Future of Retail report from Walker Sands, 19 percent of consumers have made a purchase using a voice-controlled device in the past 12 months. The numbers go way up, however, for millennials, with 37 percentreporting they 'always' or 'often' shop online via voice-controlled devices. Among this group,43 percent made a purchase using voice in the past year. The data are based on a recent US consumer survey of just over 1,600 adults and can be interpreted in bullish or bearish ways for voice. More than 80 percent of the overall survey population said they had not made a voice-driven purchase and nearly half (48 percent) said they were not at all likely to do so. Source: Walker Sands Future of Retail report (July 2017)Security, privacy, lack of visuals and uncertainty about price/payment were the top four reasons that people were hesitant to buy on voice-first devices or devices without a screen. Of course, the Amazon Echo Show (with a screen) potentially addresses all those issues; however, the survey was conducted before the Show had shipped. The survey asked about voice-device ownership. According to the findings, 16 percent said they owned an Echo, 6 percent owned a Google Home, and 2 percent had more than one (though not necessarily both). Perhaps most interesting is the finding that 20 percent said they planned to purchase one of these devices in the coming year. Source: Walker Sands Future of Retail report (July 2017)The numbers above should probably not be extrapolated to the entire US population. If we were to do so, it would suggest that there are more than 50 million owners of these smart speaker/virtual assistants in the US today. However, the numbers are closer to 20 million (or so), according to various third-party estimates. Kayak adds hotel reservations by voiceSeparately today, Kayak announced the ability to book a room through Alexa, which points to the future of shopping and purchasing through voice assistants. Once usersinvoke the Kayak skill on Alexa devices (Alexa ask Kayak . . .), it walks youthrough adialog wizard about location, dates, ratings and pricing. It can only discuss one hotel at a time and isbest right now for booking specific hotels, rather than choosing a hotel from among many. Users must also link their Kayak accounts with a credit card to finalize the transaction. Nonetheless, it points to a rapidly approachingfuture where transactions are a routine part of using voice assistants. The post Report: 43% of millennials have made a voice-device purchase in past year appeared first on Search Engine Land. |