Making a PC-to-phone call from one’s PC will be integrated into MSN Messenger by year’s end.
It could be that Skype erred if it really did turn down a megabucks deal from Rupert Murdoch and News Corp for $3 billion USD. Now that Microsoft has acquired VoIP services firm Teleo for an undisclosed sum, Redmond will be the first search engine player to offer that service.
Microsoft plans to take Teleo’s technology and integrate it into MSN Messenger. Other Microsoft products like Internet Explorer and Office should be considered candidates for Teleo integration.
Yahoo, Google, and AOL offer PC to PC calling now, as does MSN. Microsoft’s proposed plan to have its service up and running could beat Yahoo to market. The BBC notes how Yahoo purchased Dialpad earlier this summer, but the Sunnyvale crew has not disclosed future VoIP plans yet.
Another aspect of the sudden love for VoIP from all four companies mentioned could be the battle over local search, a burgeoning market for search engines. The prospect of pay-per-call revenue generated from advertisements offers Microsoft et al the chance for a more profitable payoff than the dominant pay-per-click model for online advertising.
VoIP initiatives that grow the model into broader acceptance could drive pay-per-call adoption. Combine local search with the push to grow mobile search, and give wireless handset users the chance to hit a pay-per-call link after searching for a business, and the model suddenly rivals pay-per-click.
Pay-per-click has been plagued by lawsuits over fraudulent clicks, and a partial migration to a pay-per-call model could help mitigate that problem, too.
David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
