Google has announced that it will be shutting down its Conversational Actions platform in June of 2023. This platform was used by brands to create and provide branded content to their audience on Google Assistant devices like Google Home. After June of 2023, all Conversational Actions will be decommissioned, and brands' Invocation Name on Google Home devices will no longer deliver their content. Let’s take a look at what this means for bloggers and podcasters who currently use this platform for their branded content.
The Impact on Brands
This announcement has been met with disappointment among smaller brands that rely on Google’s Conversational Actions to convey their message to their audiences. Going forward, Google will require brand owners to develop an Android app to deliver their content. Due to the cost and complexity associated with building an Android app, most smaller brands will not be able to justify the cost of building and marketing an Android app. This means that brands that want their content delivered over voice assistants will need to focus their efforts on Amazon Alexa devices instead of Google Assistant devices. Fortunately, Amazon continues to be the leader in Smart Speaker adoption so focusing on Alexa Skills to deliver their content continues to be the primary voice assistant being used by their audience.
What About Invocation Names?
Another change from this announcement is how this will affect invocation names—the words you use when activating a particular action or skill on a device such as “Hey Google, ask Create My Voice to read the latest blog post” or “Alexa, talk to My Quest to Teach”. Google Conversational Actions was how many brands secured their Invocation Name on Google Assistant devices such as Google Home or Nest products. This means that any existing invocation names will become invalid after June 2023, meaning any users who had previously used those names to access your content will no longer be able to do so. Additionally, any existing content created using Conversational Actions will also become inaccessible on Google Assistant devices after June 2023.
Conclusion:
It's clear that Google shutting down Conversational Actions in June of 2023 poses a challenge for brands who rely heavily on these services for branded content delivery. As such, most brands should consider focusing their effort on Amazon Alexa devices instead as these are more likely to provide them with better results due to Amazon's leadership position in Smart Speaker adoption. So, maintaining your Amazon Alexa Invocation Name is just as important as ever. And with Google seemingly moving away from their Google Home Smart Speaker, using Amazon Alexa to deliver content will be more important than ever.
