Google Extends Free Gmail Voice Calls In The U.S. And Canada Through 2013
This is becoming somewhat of a holiday tradition for Google: the company just announced that it is extending it free domestic calls from Gmail in the U.S. and Canada for yet another year.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already opened Google Voice to the public in 2010, then added calling inside Gmail; early coverage found that feature gaining users despite operational bumps. Its previous one-year extension established free domestic calling as an ongoing Gmail feature rather than a short launch promotion.
Google also brought free voice calling into Hangouts conference calls in 2011. Extending Gmail availability through 2013 keeps that communications capability attached to Google's core messaging products while the company expands Google Apps against Microsoft.
First-order effects
- Gmail users in the U.S. and Canada retain free domestic voice calling through 2013 instead of facing a change in service or pricing.
- Google preserves a Gmail feature that links email accounts to its broader voice-calling offering.
Second-order effects
- Google Apps can continue to present calling as an included communications feature as Google pursues business customers in competition with Microsoft.
- The continued no-charge offering raises the value of Google's messaging surfaces relative to standalone calling products that must justify separate pricing.
Third-order effects
- Google's Gmail, Voice and Hangouts efforts point toward communications being bundled across account-based services rather than sold as a single-purpose calling product.
- If Google continues carrying free calling across its messaging products, product integration—not calling revenue alone—becomes the central basis for competition in consumer communications.
The trend: Google is using free voice calling to make its messaging products a more integrated communications layer across consumer and business accounts.