It's Time For Some Google Glue

from the sounds-like-a-job-for-elmer's dept

A recent study shows that Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger account for 42% and 22% of time spent at Yahoo!, respectively. GMail accounts for 45% of time spent on Google, pretty incredible for a product still in limited beta release. Communications applications like email and IM are always going to have more time spent than, say, search applications (and one wonders how exactly they measure IM time usage). As Google makes a play for a more (web 1.0 buzzword alert) sticky experience, Bambi Francisco thinks that it's time for Google to launch its own messenger. Well, first off, Google already has one. With its purchase of Picasa last year, Google acquired the Hello client, which has IM functionality, albeit downplayed. Although, maybe Google themselves have forgotten about Hello since rumors are percolating about a possible Skype acquisition (although they'd have to outbid News Corp's $3 billion offer). Whether Google builds its own messenger or buys one, they will hopefully do a better job of integration than they have with their existing products. Yahoo! Messenger does a good job of tying in Mail, Games, Sports and 360. Integration was the promise of Google Fusion, but so far the integration has been unexciting: Orkut, Blogger, Picasa, Maps, and other smaller products like Answers are nowhere to be found. Integration is not fun, and it's hard -- perhaps Google should take some of the famed 20% fun personal project time and apply it to this nasty integration problem.