Google to Turn Times Square into a Giant Voice Search Experiment on Friday 3 comments

by: TechCrunch November 26, 2009 | about: GOOG / VZ / TRI

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By MG Siegler

There are few things more terrifying to me than the idea of going anywhere near a shopping establishment on Black Friday. But if I lived in New York City, I think I would this year because Google (GOOG), Verizon (VZ), Reuters, and R/GA are teaming up to take over the largest displays on Times Square to allow for a giant Google Search by voice experiment/Droid advertisement.

What does this mean? On Black Friday, anyone who calls 888-376-4336 and does a Google Search by voice, will see their results displayed on either the Reuters sign or the NASDAQ sign in Times Square. So, if you say something like “new Jonas Brothers CD,” the display will come up with a giant Google Map complete with signs showing you where you can find that. Also included is the embarrassment that everyone in Times Square has just seen what ridiculous thing you are searching for.

This is all a big promotion for Droid, the new Android phone built by Verizon and being heavily pushed by Google. And the promotion has actually been going on for the past couple of weeks in New York, but it previously has only run during 90 minute timeslots in the afternoon or night. On Black Friday, it will be running for 20 hours straight. I would love to know how much that advertisement cost.

Here’s a site with the countdown to the event complete with the message: “Droid will do Times Square for 20 hours…” Minds out of the gutter, folks.

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Paul Zimbardo
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I have a B.S. in Finance & Accounting and over three years of personal investing experience. I actively follow stocks and I focus on dividend stocks as well as value stocks. In addition, I utilize relatively safe option strategies such as covered calls and cash secured puts to generate... More
Assuming lots of people try doing this on Friday, how long can Google keep a huge map up on the screen? I can understand scrolling on the ticker but keeping a map up long enough to read it just seems unrealistic.

More importantly, this makes for a decent publicity stunt if advertised well but I don't see this driving more users to Google Search by Voice.

Happy Thanksgiving all!
2009 Nov 26 03:29 PM Reply

slam stocks
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I'm the Managing Director of a tax consulting firm, with the side occupation of conservative investing. I look for good value, easy to understand, with large competitive advantages offering steady dividend yields. Using a simple approach, I've easily beaten the market for many years with minimal... More
I have to admire GOOG, they like to go big and they need another hit to expand beyond search. Not sure about the success of Droid to knock off the IPhone, but it's definitely a good start.
2009 Nov 26 09:40 PM Reply