Google is Sunsetting Conversational Actions
Earlier this week, Google announced they will sunset Conversational Actions in June 2023. What now?
Google Conversational Actions will no longer be supported or available in a year. Instead, the Google Actions Marketplace (if it retains that name) will be limited to Smart Home and media streaming functionality – these extend the use/value of first-party functionality on Google Assistant. Hence, it makes sense that they will keep those.
Google suggests that all Conversational Actions be moved to native mobile apps, specifically Android Apps, using App Actions. It’s worth mentioning that Google calls this process ‘voicifying’ those apps.
What should brands be doing, including Voicify customers?
Notably, Google is observing a significant shift in the market in a dramatic way (killing their marketplace). Brands with Google Conversational Actions should be shifting them to their native mobile, web, and other owned endpoints.
For Voicify customers, this is an easy process. A key value of Voicify is a one-to-many endpoint deployment capability. Many customers who chose Alexa & Google Assistant also have chosen their website, native mobile apps, and more. In short, call your Customer Success Rep, and let’s talk about adding on your native mobile or web experience as a first step.
Why did Google choose to do this with conversational actions?
There are many reasons, I am sure. Development, maintenance, ecosystem support, and discoverability all come to mind. For sure, voicifying your android app rolls up to their more comprehensive Android first approach to development.
But a quote from Rebecca Nathenson speaks to a more significant realization, “Voice is great, but voice that is detached [from the larger ecosystem] isn’t as compelling.”
I couldn’t agree more. For this and other essential reasons, we built Voicify as a conversational ai platform versus an Alexa or GA accelerator. Note that her observation doesn’t question the value of conversational interfaces but rather the placement of the user interface. This point is important. One of the largest technology companies in the world isn’t backing away from the conversational interface; they are placing it where it belongs: with the brand.
Will Amazon do the same thing with Alexa?
Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely at this time. Why? While Amazon has incredible reach in many areas of business operations, owned channels aren’t one of them. Amazon doesn’t run search, mobile operating systems, or other deeply rooted employee and consumer engagement channels. I see brands abandon Alexa over time instead of embedding conversational AI in their products, hardware, software, etc. Amazon is likely to take on more first-party functionality that brands may already own in their existing platforms, especially for those leveraging Amazon’s commerce platform – essentially extending their existing functionality footprint with conversational UI.
In closing
Conversational AI is a complex interface, no doubt. There are considerations in approaching and executing this rapidly evolving user interface. And just as brands need robust tools to manage social, web, native, kiosk, drive-thru, employee devices, and many other endpoints/channels, a tool for conversational AI, intelligent voice assistants, and custom enterprise assistants is needed. Voicify is this tool. The only enterprise conversational AI and voice user interface platform. So it begs the question:
Keep in touch
If you have questions about custom voice assistants or how Voicify can help, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a no-cost, no-commitment conversation.
About Voicify
Voicify, LLC is the world’s only end-to-end solution for creating, managing, and optimizing enterprise-owned voice assistants Our platform enables brands to create highly engaging and personalized voice experiences that can be automatically deployed to web and mobile products and services as well as a broad array of voice platforms, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IVR telephony systems, and more. You can learn more at www.voicify.com and on Twitter (@Voicify) or LinkedIn.