google india launches premium SMS service

Well Well – finally here it is! Google India has launched SMS services and here are the details.

Shortcode:
54664 (5GOOG)

Types of services:
Local , Weather, Glossary, Movies, Q&A, Translation, Web Snippets, Calculator, Currency Conversion

I have loved the concept esp with relevance to India, this was something I tried and did succeed when I was in Mytoday. We didn’t take it to the next level as the management didn’t want to go that route. I like that I can query for:

• movies and theatre phone numbers!
• Find Thai restaurant
• Rs to US convertor

Coming to some improvements / cribs I have:

• Its taking more than 2 mins to get the sms back. common this is google I expect things to work quicker! I think they will have serious scaling issues!
• Relevant text ads? or Deals?
• Now that they have sms act to together … google calendars and reminders ??
• A look into their mobile privacy policy
  • Sometimes, we record your phone number. We record your phone number when you send it to us; ask us to remember it; or make a call or send a text message or SMS to or from Google. {how clear are they going to be with this? I have my reservations!}
  • If you use location-based products and services, such as Google Maps for mobile, you may be sending us location information.
  • Certain of our products and services allow you to interact and share
    your information with others. Please consider carefully before disclosing any personal information or data that might be accessible to others.
  • The Nail on the Coffin - Google adheres to the US Safe Harbour privacy principles. For more information about the Safe Harbour framework or our registration, see
    the Department of Commerce’s Web site.

My advice – use at your own discretion … Anyway, I am going to go ahead and use it! Remember its on an average 2 bucks a pop!