Found an interesting story at tech-buzz.net that Google has started its 5GOOG service in India.
Searching Google on the really slow world of GPRS in India is a complete pain. Quite a lot of places in a city like Mumbai have a very low coverage of GPRS connectivity, and hence browsing google and performing searches is a test of one's patience.
Google has just launched beta service of its text messaging service in India. You have to write your search query as an SMS and send it to 54664 , (represented on keypad as 5GOOG). You can go to the site and test the results for the service.
Google SMS is a premium SMS service; queries sent to 54664 will be charged at the following rates:
Aircel: Rs. 3.00
Airtel: Rs. 2.00
BPL: Rs. 3.00
BSNL: Rs. 0.80/1.00 (post-paid/pre-paid)
Reliance: Rs. 3.00
Note: Incoming messages from Google are not charged.
Requirements: Text messaging enabled mobile device; mobile operator networks supported at this time: Aircel, Airtel, BPL, BSNL, Reliance.
I tried this a few times since morning but haven't got any replies for results from Google. I have an Airtel mobile and I'm located in Mumbai. I was querying for the Pizza Hut phone number located at Malad... and till now my hunger for Pizza just died... and I swallowed my Daal-Chawal.
The idea of the service is useful and is quite a good way to monetize as well. I'm wondering though if it's worth spending if you don't get accurate results, as has been my experience with web searches. You require atleast 3-4 searches with different keywords before you get the desired results.
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