Make PC-to-phone calls free.
That will surely make Google Talk and first IM of choice by everyone. Will Google be able to offer it free? They have the funding, they have the bandwidth and processing power — so why not? Ahhh yes, they should also earn from it right? How about advertising then? They’re really good at it so I’m sure they’ll be able to think of something creative.
Here’s an idea though. Why not advertise thru voice? Here’s how I think it would work. You have Google Talk on your PC. You call a landline number; while the line is ringing a 30 second voice advert is playing. The same will also happen on the receiver’s end — a 30 second advert will be playing before the two parties can be connected.
On top of that, if the other party may not be able answer after the 30 second waiting time, the caller can leave a message and this is then recorded and emailed to the receiver’s Gmail address for playback later on. It now forces the receiver to signup for Gmail which is ad-supported.
Seems a little bit obtrusive, I know, but it will really depend if advertisers bite it. Last time I heard, Google was doing print advertising so voice adverts might work as well.
Update: Adcalls is doing it for free. What’s the business model? Advertisers pay for the service. The model is exactly how television has been free for all of these years. The screen of the dialer rotates ads while the dialer is displayed. All ads are from businesses inside your local area so you can take advantage of their offers, if you so choose. Why can’t Google do the same?