Google has announced a number of shutdowns of various ventures including Duplex on the web, a series of AI-powered services, and those related to ordering food, buying tickets, and more.
The company went public with the news by writing on its support page how its ‘on the web’ feature and any others linked to automation would no longer be enabled and supported by this month’s end.
It adds that the goal right now is to enhance the entire Duplex experience and also take into consideration feedback from various people and developers regarding how it can make things better with time.
By this year’s end, they would be turning down Duplex on the Web and focusing more on making advancements in the field of AI to enhance the voice technology that assists people each day.
We first heard about Duplex on the Web in 2019 where it was detailed to be the outgrowth for call automation as mentioned during the Google I/O conference set out for developers.
To begin with, just a few cases were put in the spotlight such as the opening of movie theater websites where information may be filled in on the behalf of a user and even enable seat selection.
Later on, we saw another expansion come forward including passwords so users can change them when a certain data breach occurs. Then it expanded to flight check-ins, discount finds, and e-commerce retailers too.
The promise of this would be to enable commands to Google Assitant such as bookings for rental cars from Hertz or allow for relevant fill-in details such as name, trip dates, and details linked to payments too.
In general, the rollout was just so slow to start with. And there were just a limited number of sites that provided support for a certain cause. Now, it appears that the technical rift was just too much for Google to handle and that’s why it’s pulling the plug.
We do see why some businesses may have felt super uncomfortable about Google intervening in the middle of their dealings with customers. But the main point of conflict most certainly must have been related to the tech giant taking a share which we are sure nobody would be keen on providing because it’s not profitable for them on a long-term basis.
Whether or not this is the right decision, well, only time can tell. But we do see Duplex soon being a part of the company’s abandoned goods and services.
Read next: Google Adds New Reading Mode Format To Android So Websites Are Easier To Read
The company went public with the news by writing on its support page how its ‘on the web’ feature and any others linked to automation would no longer be enabled and supported by this month’s end.
It adds that the goal right now is to enhance the entire Duplex experience and also take into consideration feedback from various people and developers regarding how it can make things better with time.
By this year’s end, they would be turning down Duplex on the Web and focusing more on making advancements in the field of AI to enhance the voice technology that assists people each day.
We first heard about Duplex on the Web in 2019 where it was detailed to be the outgrowth for call automation as mentioned during the Google I/O conference set out for developers.
To begin with, just a few cases were put in the spotlight such as the opening of movie theater websites where information may be filled in on the behalf of a user and even enable seat selection.
Later on, we saw another expansion come forward including passwords so users can change them when a certain data breach occurs. Then it expanded to flight check-ins, discount finds, and e-commerce retailers too.
The promise of this would be to enable commands to Google Assitant such as bookings for rental cars from Hertz or allow for relevant fill-in details such as name, trip dates, and details linked to payments too.
In general, the rollout was just so slow to start with. And there were just a limited number of sites that provided support for a certain cause. Now, it appears that the technical rift was just too much for Google to handle and that’s why it’s pulling the plug.
We do see why some businesses may have felt super uncomfortable about Google intervening in the middle of their dealings with customers. But the main point of conflict most certainly must have been related to the tech giant taking a share which we are sure nobody would be keen on providing because it’s not profitable for them on a long-term basis.
Whether or not this is the right decision, well, only time can tell. But we do see Duplex soon being a part of the company’s abandoned goods and services.
Read next: Google Adds New Reading Mode Format To Android So Websites Are Easier To Read