Google Assistant is about to get a bit more home-savvy. The voice assistant will be gaining local discovery skills that will help you locate home services nearby. The company specifically detailed that Assistant would be gaining insights to help users locate “nearby services like an electrician, plumber, house cleaner and more.”
Saying something like, “Hey Google, I need a plumber,” will soon help you clarify your problem, pull up results for local services that can help you out of your jam and dial them up for you.
The blog post focused heavily on home services, though the move fits more broadly into Google’s broader strategy of helping Assistant cater results more locally for users. When it comes to real-world stores and services that have yet to be app-disrupted, there’s still a long way for voice assistants to go.
The new functionality will be rolling out to U.S. users this week starting today, and results will be screened in certain cities by Google and services like HomeAdvisor and Porch so you hopefully won’t end up with somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Voice assistants on display-less devices like Home fundamentally suck at concisely conveying choices, so Google making the first option the one you want to use is obviously incredibly important.
The updated functionality will be coming to Android phones, Google’s iOS Assistant app and smart devices like Home.