Google Now has begun offering information delivered to users via third-party apps, a move that indicates Google's tacit admission that it does not have a monopoly on all the information that users might find useful.
The integration will begin with 40 apps delivering information to users via Google Now's digital cards but Google plans to expand the feature to include more apps over time. Each of these apps will provide context-sensitive information that users will receive on Google Now instead of relying on the app's notification system.
"A lot of useful information lives inside apps on your phone, from your favorite music to last-minute hotel deals to home-buying teams," says Google Now director of product management Aparna Chennapragada. "Today, you have two ways to get information from these apps - either remember to constantly open them up and look, or get a notification, which you may forget to act on if it shows up at the wrong time."
Naturally, Google Now will start showing cards from third-party apps for Android users, and the feature will start rolling out "over the next few weeks" in Google's effort to provide information that is "helpful to you right when you need it."
For instance, The Guardian and The Economist will deliver cards containing the day's hottest news and business headlines. When the user is off to work, Pandora will bring up cards with music recommendations to play. For users who are planning a trip, Kayak will push cards letting them know about flights that have dropped their prices, and Airbnb will ask the user if he wants to book a rental he was looking at days before he plans to rent.
For all this to work, the user needs to have the app downloaded to his device so it can push information to Google Now. Also, he also has to allow Google Now to retrieve data from third-party apps through its Web & App Activity settings.
Google also says some cards will be triggered by location, such as Lyft pushing a card for a ride to the user's home or hotel when Google Now detects he just arrived from his flight at the airport. However, Google says will not share the user's location right away. Instead, the user will have to launch Lyft and the app's own data collection system can take it from there.
Google Now is what Google envisions to be the future of search. Instead of having people go to Google's search box to find the information they're trying to look for, Google sees a future where Google Now can give people the answers to their questions before they even start looking for it. Today, Google Now provides people information about the things they frequently search for, such as breaking and popular news, the weather, traffic information, stocks, sports scores, flight details, package shipments, and calendar appointments.
"Maybe you don't want to ask a question; maybe you want to just have it answered for you before you ask it," Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page once said.
