Google could launch its very own mobile messaging application to take on WhatsApp, WeChat, LINE and many other similar apps that have put a dent in Google"s messaging market share in recent times.
According to a report by the Economic Times, Google sent Nikhyl Singhal, a product manager of the company, to India for assessing the mobile messaging ecosystem which has been growing rapidly due to the rise of inexpensive smartphones and easy access to mobile data.
The mobile messaging ecosystem is mainly dominated by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, WeChat and to some extent BBM. However, Google"s own Hangouts has failed to generate any interest among mobile users. One of the reasons for the popularity of the other messengers could be the easy discovery of other users and the use of phone numbers to authenticate the user, which is why Google is also planning to do away with the Google Account requirement in its upcoming messenger.
Google has been making improvements to its Hangouts app and working on integrating all the features from Google Talk, Voice and SMS into the same app, however, most of these features are limited to specific countries. Moreover, the app lacks many features that have become commonplace for competing messengers such as voice notes, advanced group messaging, emoji support, stickers and better media sharing capabilities. Since Google failed to acquire WhatsApp, there doesn"t seem to be a better option for the company than to make its own messenger now.
Source: Economic Time | Image via Google