Google Launches 'Talk' Gadget in Attempt to Capture U.S. Consumer IM Market

By Leo Blanco

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

To its fans, Google (News - Alert) Talk is a fast, intuitive, and fun instant-messaging (IM) service. The service, which was originally launched as a downloadable (desktop) application, helps people communicate effectively and efficiently.  In order to expand the reach of the product, Google recently decided to release a new gadget that lets users add Google Talk to their web pages.

 

With the growing popularity of blogs, wikis, and Web as a whole, this gadget aids users in exchanging text messages with contacts through Google Talk, right from their web pages. Unlike Google Talk, the gadget does not require any downloads. Instead, users customize the display settings, generate code for the gadget, and include it in the source code of their Web pages. The gadget can also be added to other Web pages such as Google’s Personalized Home Page or a customized Web portal with support for third-party online services.

 

The gadget works well with Adobe’s Flash Player Version 8 or above. It displays a Flash-based user interface on the Web page and loads automatically.

 
In a recent InfoWorld Daily report, Sterling Market Intelligence analyst Greg Sterling was quoted as saying this about the Google Talk gadget: “This is definitely a smart move on Google’s part to promote and increase Talk’s exposure.”

 

Sterling noted that, although Google Talk was launched in August 2005, it has struggled somewhat to gain an edge over established IM services like those offered by AOL (News - Alert), Microsoft, and Yahoo!.

 

“It’s a tough market to crack because it is inconvenient for people to switch from their preferred IM provider,” Sterling said. “This inconvenience is particularly due to the fact that the IM networks from AOL, Microsoft (News - Alert), and Yahoo are built on proprietary protocols, and interoperability is neither widespread nor simple to achieve.

Interoperability between IM networks continues to remain a big issue for most service providers. Microsoft and Yahoo were able to accord a basic level of interoperability between their IM networks last year after months of talk and hard work.

 

AOL, too, has teamed up with other services for achieving interoperability. Google and AOL have indicated that they plan to make their IM services interoperable, but to date  have not delivered on that promise.

The InfoWorld Daily report cited data from Neilsen//NetRatings, indicating usage stats for various IM services. AOL’s AIM holds the top spot in the U.S. consumer IM market, accounting for 44.5 million unique users. The second spot belongs to Microsoft whose Windows Live Messenger accounts for 26 million, followed by Yahoo! Messenger with 22.6 million users.

 

The figures from Neilsen//NetRatings indicate that Google Talk does not have a substantial share in the consumer IM market—it can boast only a paltry 1.7 million users. The new gadget may improve those numbers. However, Google declined to offer any details about specific Talk usage numbers, quoting that it has “millions of active users.”

Mike Jazayeri, Google Talk’s product manager, said in a statement, “In addition to text messaging, people can use the gadget interface to initiate a voice chat, but the Talk application is needed to host the conversation.”

 

He added: “However, Google hopes to extend this functionality so that voice chats can happen within the gadget interface.”

Jazayeri noted that the gadget does introduce some features missing from the desktop application, “such as the ability to organize multiple text chats with tabs and share and watch photos and videos within the Talk interface from Google’s Picasa photo manager and YouTube (News - Alert) video site.”

It now remains to be seen whether this gadget will reverse the fortunes for Google in the quest to capture the consumer IM market in the U.S.

Leo Blanco is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.