DA Cage Match: Google vs. Jingle

Driving to a meeting yesterday in San Francisco I was informally comparing the results and experience on Google’s DA/voice search platform (1877 Goog 411) and Jingle (1800 Free411). I was trying to reach two Web-based companies, LocalLaunch and Yelp.

Caveats: my testing was in traffic and not controlled/systematic and Google hasn’t acknowledged publicly that they’re doing this.

The results of this limited test were something of a wash. Jingle performed better when it came to finding Yelp but couldn’t find LocalLaunch. Goog411 is more flexible and may have a better database than the one Jingle is using, but its voice recognizers and related technology couldn’t “disambiguate” “Yelp” in a moving car with background noise — nor was it able to on a landline.

In the context of the LocalLaunch search, Goog411 was able to find it without a problem in a moving car, and I was able to connect via voice command. In Jingle’s case the automated front-end didn’t find LocalLaunch, nor was a live agent able to – which implicates the database.

Overall Goog411 was more flexibile, as I said, permitting category search and navigation back and forth from results to details and back. It also allows transmission of numbers via keypad or voice to text on my phone. Jingle says it’s adding category search in Q1. The thing that Jingle had over Goog411 was resort to a live agent, which can be very helpful if the “system” doesn’t understand the query (but only if the database has the information).

Right now there are no ads on Goog411. Jingle has sponsors and advertisers (with offers) who compete with the listing I’m seeking. Jingle has also apparently ceased to connect calls automatically.

I’m going to continue to test these services in real-world situations and report back. I encourage you to do the same. It’s “fun” and free. 🙂

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