The digital personal assistant race has really been heating up over the past few months. Both Google and Amazon have been rolling out new products and features at a rapid pace. The products offered by both companies have some strengths and weaknesses, but we’re not here to debate which platform is best or who will win the race. Today, we’re here to share some exciting news about Google Assistant that is relevant to all business owners, whether you use the platform or not.
A lot of time, effort, and money is currently being pumped into AI at all of the big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Digital personal assistant devices are really our first glimpse of what is being developed, and from what we’ve been hearing, the latest information is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come. Our research team here at Zipline has been following personal assistants very closely over the past few months. It is likely that whatever form AI takes in the future, it will have a big impact on digital marketing and lead generation. We’re working diligently to keep our customers ahead of the curve in adopting and optimizing for these exciting new platforms.
Today we have big news! In October, Google previewed the developer platform for Google Assistant, ‘Actions on Google.’ Actions on Google enhances the Assistant user experience by providing a vehicle for third party companies and developers to bring their services to the Assistant. Today Google Actions have finally become available to the public. What does this mean for you and your business? Well, it means that starting today we can build Conversation Actions for Google Home.
What is a Conversation Action for Google Home?
Conservation Actions let you engage users online to deliver information, services, or assistance. The coolest part is that these are built right into the platform with no need for a user to install an app. A user may say something like “Ok Google, talk to Number Genie,” which will then trigger a two-way dialog between the user and the Number Genie system. This in turn allows the user to take advantage of remote web services and platforms using simple conversation.
Below is a great video that describes a bit more about how this process works, and shows a few examples.
That video is a bit technical, but it does a good job of explaining what an Action is and how it works. Our developer team is already hard at working experimenting with this new technology. If you would like to explore how your business might be be an early adopter of Google Actions, give us a call today! We are excited to explore this incredible new technology with you.
We will also continue to keep you up-to-date on further advancements with Google Actions, Google Home, and with AI in general.
