The relevance of Google Talk

A quick tally of my Google Talk contacts earlier today reveals that I now have almost as many contacts using the fledgling instant messaging program as I do on the Windows Live Messenger program.

My Google Talk contacts now equal a resounding 29 individuals while my Windows Live Messenger contact total equals 34.

Does this statistic portend a trend? Likely not of course. It’s far too early to say definitively. I’m one person - hardly a representative sample. More importantly, current Windows Live Messenger usage far outweighs Google Talk on a global basis.

As of December last year, Windows Live Messenger had approximately 227 million visitors, followed by Yahoo Messenger at 93 million while Google Talk laid claim to a mere 4 million users.

It may however be an indication that the overconnected - people like yours truly - are more than willing to use more than one instant messaging client.

They are free to use after all so why not be a member of multiple networks? In fact, it was almost necessary in recent years to do as much. IM interoperability is fairly recent for Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo, which allowed IM users to connect to what were once considered rival networks.

Windows Live Messenger, formerly known as MSN Messenger and one or two other names, however, is still the dominant IM program. It’s easy to see why. Everyone’s on it, making Metcalfe’s Law paramount.

But it’s easy to see how a Web-based option, namely Google Talk, will gain ground over time. Microsoft and Google, despite the intense rivalry between the two companies, will make the Messenger and Talk programs interoperable over time, making Talk more attractive.

It’s easy to see why - Google Talk for example can be used by a variety of computing devices at any one time. There’s also no client download; it’s 100% Web accessible.

I am no proponent of Google Talk - it has many deficiencies, chief among them a lack of graphics. IM is supposed to be fun after all! Messenger is a much more refined product at this stage.

But easy access to Talk and the Google’s eponymous search engine can help the company turn the program into a strength over time.

This can help Google put another chink in the Microsoft armor. IM is no bread winner but it will help further assert itself as the dominant Web player.

Where art thou Yahoo?

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