Well, a number of folks in the VoIP blogosphere jumped on the “news” that Google Click-to-call had been cancelled, apparently pursuant to some maneuvering centered on a relationship with Skype and eBay. Turned out, it wasn’t true. Google’s click-to-call effort hasn’t changed. Revise revise revise those blog posts, guys.
First of all, if Google wanted to own eBay at their own game, it would be no problem. Google Auctions? Where do I sign up? (Yahoo! Auctions got beaned by eBay, but they should’ve stuck it out. The fact that there’s no good alternative to eBay is really Yahoo’s fault.)
Why didn’t I mention Skype in the preceding paragraph? Because eBay hasn’t begun to figure Skype into its banking-oriented business model. Skype has no market cap. And many people rightly question its value to eBay. But that’s nother post.
Second of all, I haven’t quite figured out Google Talk. Yeah, I know what it does, etc. But where does it figure into the Google equation? It would figure a lot more prominenently if Google actually pushed it. Ubiquity is an important goal for anybody making software. But Google doesn’t seem to be chasing the big U the way Skype has.
Fourteenth of all, if Skype gets SIP, what’s left for competitors? Argh. Zenstrom, are you paying attention? ADD SIP TO SKYPEOUT/SKYPEIN. It makes so much sense to me, the logic is slapping me in the head.
