Techcrunch reported a couple of days ago that Google are in the final phase of closing a deal to acquire GrandCentral. GrandCentral is an innovative startup that allows users to have a phone number “for life”, i.e. you can link your existing numbers to your GC number and route calls accordingly for different people. It also offers the ability to check phone messages online, store them (forever?), forward them, etc. which reminds me of Apple’s “Visual Voicemail”. You can even save whole phone conversations online if you wish.
I’m guessing, as many are, that Google want to incorporate GC’s technology in their Instant Messaging app, GTalk, and make it more fully featured and it may finally be able to compete against Yahoo! Messenger and Live Messenger. I can see transcripts of messages and conversations created automatically and be made available and searchable when logged in to iGoogle. For example, you want to find out when you last spoke to Dave about that great photo editing application because you can’t remember what its called, so you’d Google “Dave photo editing” and it would find all the conversations with Dave (any Dave in fact) about photo editing. From here you could flick through the transcript or listen to segments or even the whole conversation. You could then forward this on to Dave and ask him if he still uses this app, etc.

Now, if Google made this functionality free, would they then look at creating extra revenue streams from it. Google have started implementing AdSense on radio networks, and surely the same technology could be used on a phone system. Imaging calling Dave and being put through to his voicemail, but before you can leave a message you are played a short (5-6 seconds?) advert by Google. Because Google knows a bit about you and your recent conversations with Dave, it can tailor the ad to you, even to the point where it uses your name. I know that privacy is an issue, but it does the same sort of thing for email so why not voicemail?

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