Google Plans New, Smarter Messaging App

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Google is working on yet another mobile messaging service, with the twist this time being the inclusion of chatbots.

The way this works is, you can message your friends the way you currently do but there are also chatbots that can answer your queries. The bots will use Google's web search expertise to find answers for your questions. It's like using Google Now or Siri, but you type instead of speaking and it will supposedly be more conversational. Google will probably allow developers to build their own chatbots to include within the service. Not much else is known about the service at this point.

Google hasn't had much success in the messaging and social arena. Most people didn't take kindly to the rebranding of Google Talk to Hangouts and the service has since had trouble finding favor among users. Competitors, in the form of Facebook with its Messenger and WhatsApp services, and Apple with its exclusive iMessage service, are doing a lot better in comparison. This is Google's way to yet again try and get back into the messaging space and at the same time earn revenue by directing users to specific chatbots.

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