Google Voice Gets New Free VoIP Service
November 13, 2009
Earlier this week, reports surfaced indicating that Google had bought Gizmo5, a VoIP firm. The news came just on the heels of Google's AdMob acquisition. Google has now officially announced that it has indeed acquired Gizmo5.
"While we don't have any specific features to announce right now, Gizmo5's engineers will be joining the Google Voice team to continue improving the Google Voice and Gizmo5 experience," Google says. "Current Gizmo5 users will still be able to use the service, though we will be suspending new signups for the time being, and existing users will no longer be able to sign up for a call-in number."
"We've acquired a number of small companies over the past five years, and the people and technology that have come to Google from other places have contributed in many ways, large and small, to all kinds of Google products," the company adds. "Since the GrandCentral team joined Google in 2007, they've done incredible things with Google's technology and resources to launch and improve Google Voice."
In a previous report, Doug Caverly of WebProNews noted that Gizmo5 is a good fit for Google. For one, Gizmo5 is free, and Google offers a great deal of free services as it is. It is also available in nine languages, and Google is frequently expanding its reach in this regard with most of its products.
A couple weeks ago Google announced that Google Voice users can now use their own existing mobile numbers. They no longer have to have a separate Google number. This should be a great way to attract new users. However, at this point, Google Voice is still only available on an invitation basis.
Have You Read This?
> Report Indicates Google Bought Gizmo5
> You Don't Need a Google Number to Use Google Voice
> AT&T Goes On The Offensive Against Google Voice
Conversions 11% Higher When Customers See Security
September 19, 2009
McAfee released results from a study of 163 million online shoppers, and found that the majority of them are "digital window shoppers." In other words, they start shopping on a site, leave for a period of time, then return later to complete the sale.
According to McAfee's findings, conversions were 11% higher for digital window shoppers who were shown a security cue, and the longer it took a customer to complete a sale, the more responsive they were to security cues.
"Online retailers who ignore the role security plays in converting digital window shoppers to customers are missing out on billions of dollars they can’t afford to lose in this economy," said Shane Keats, senior research analyst for McAfee. “Many will take traditional measures to get customers to return, like reducing shipping costs or offering coupons, but more can and should be done.”
A couple more noteworthy findings:
- 65% of all shoppers will wait a day or more to complete a purchase
- The average delay is 33 hours and 54 minutes
Naturally, whether they come back or not, this indicates that shopping cart abandonment is at play. A few months ago, PayPal released results from a survey on shopping cart abandonment, and here are the reasons that were cited:
- High shipping charges: 46 percent
- Wanted to comparison shop: 37 percent
- Lack of money: 36 percent
- Wanted to look for a coupon: 27 percent
- Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
- Couldn't find preferred pay option: 24 percent
- Item was unavailable at checkout: 23 percent
- Couldn't find customer support: 22 percent
- Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent
WebProNews/SmallBusinessNewz writer Doug Caverly recently reported, "One cause of abandonment is 'couldn't find preferred pay option.' Another's 'item unavailable at checkout.' Then 'couldn't find customer support' and 'security concerns' kick in."
Sidenote: Here are some other good tips for optimizing your e-commerce conversions:
McAfee suggests that the abaondoned carts don't necessarily mean the customers won't still buy though. "Retailers shouldn’t misinterpret abandoned shopping carts – many of these potential sales return later to finalize the sale," said Keats. "Understanding this delay is critical for merchant analytics."
That's not to say that that if you are selling things online, there isn't a good chance you are missing out on a substantial amount of money you easily could be making, if you only examined why people are leaving the shopping cart. Just focus on the ones who aren't coming back.
Google Utilized to “Make History” for 9/11 Remembrance
September 11, 2009
Google has been criticized by some in the past for not featuring 9/11 doodles on the home page on the anniversary of the attacks on September 11th. Google is, however, pointing to a site from the company's official blog, that invites people to "share their experiences of 9/11 and its aftermath in an effort to preserve the memories of that time."
The site is called Make History, and utilizes Google Maps Street View and Google's App Engine. People can submit their photos/videos of the site of the World Trade Center attacks, as well as the Pentagon, and the site of the Flight 93 crash, as well as their stories.
The site was created by the National September 11th Memorial & Museum in partnership with design firm Local Projects.
Bing and Ask both have up 9/11 memorial images, and there is an iPhone app called 9/11 Numbers (via RWW).
Doug Caverly of WebProNews, who also writes regularly for the NYC Tower site, has a new piece up today. Read that here.
