Smart virtual assistants are beginning to become more and more visible these days especially with the emergence of smart speakers and the budding rivalry between Amazon Echo and Google Home. A new survey has highlighted this front and center and revealed how Alexa is now being used frequently by more people than Google Now.
Popularity And Usage Frequency
The survey was conducted by internet marketing firm HigherVisibility and involved 2,000 mobile phone users in the United States.
The bulk of the respondents said that they use Alexa most frequently. Thirty-seven percent has confirmed this, stating that they turn to the voice assistant at least once a day. Google Now has trailed it with 23.5 percent, while Siri and Cortana settled at the bottom rung of the ranking with 21 percent and 15.8 percent, respectively.
Sources explain that Alexa's popularity or the high level of usage can be attributed to the fact that consumers primarily buy Amazon Echo or Echo Dot specifically for their smart assistant features. Google Now, Siri, and Cortana, on the other hand, are mostly outfitted in smartphones, which serve other functions such as telephony, entertainment, and productivity, among others.
However, one should also note that all respondents are smartphone-wielding individuals.
It is also helpful to point out the uneven distribution of smart assistant technologies in the respondents' devices. Take the case of Google Now, which 49.4 percent of the participants reported that they have on their smartphones. Alexa, on the other hand, could only claim around 2 percent share.
This distribution could diminish the way popularity in general is defined or measured, although this figure cannot exactly be considered a barometer for it as well.
If Google Now is present on a participant's device, it does not mean that he has downloaded and installed it there himself. There are a number of Android devices that already have Google Now straight out of the box. Users can also activate it via the Google app native in Android devices.
So we are back to the usage frequency to obtain insight about its popularity, and this is where Alexa trounces the competition soundly.
Most Accurate Smart Assistant
While Alexa and Google Now are slugging it out in the area of popularity, Cortana is content to take the most accurate smart assistant title. This is no mean feat for Microsoft's voice command technology because all other smart assistants scored high in this area. Siri, on the other hand, has been left holding the bag, earning the least accurate label in the survey.
The HigherVisibility study also revealed other interesting insights about how we use smart assistants today. For example, it found that more and more people are using the technology because it is faster and more comfortable than typing or tapping to accomplish tasks. They are echoed by a related survey that found smartphone owners are now increasingly using smart assistants for calling, online search, text, navigation, and taking down notes, among others.
