Future of messaging apps spells end to 'Google as we know it'

SAN FRANCISCO — Picture this: You're texting with your friends as you're leaving work when you remember you completely forgot to organize dinner. So, without leaving your messaging conversation, you find a pizza delivery place, order an Uber home and check your bank's account balance.

That convenient future is right around the corner — in fact, it's already starting to happen. If it happens at full speed, as some predict, we're looking at an end to our current clumsy toggling between apps, mobile search and texting.

What's known as  "conversational commerce" brings your shopping experience into where you spend most of your time — messaging apps like SMS or Facebook Messenger. It's about to disrupt the way you communicate with brands in a major way, says Chris Messina.

A former user experience designer at Google, where he worked on the search giant's social network platform, Messina is probably most well known for coming up with the hashtag, which became one of Twitter's popular features.

Now an independent product designer, Messina sees the future of messaging leading to big changes to how we rely on his former employer's core search tool.

"This trend toward conversational commerce, in my view, does spell the end of Google as we know it,” Messina says on podcast with USA TODAY.  Searching the abyss of the Internet and getting a list of somewhat relevant links in return is "inhuman" and doesn’t make sense for the consumer, Messina says — especially as more people move toward mobile phones and away from desktop computers.

Julie Ask, principal analyst at Forrester, says the U.S. is already behind China, where users of the messaging app WeChat can order food, call a taxi, check their bank balance and even shop flash sales of limited-edition goods. And for the user, the experience is just like texting a friend.

"An average phone user spends 84% of his or her time in just five apps," Ask says, noting that a large chunk of that time is spent texting or instant messaging on apps. "Brands are realizing that people just aren't spending time in their apps so the companies are trying to engage you in places like Facebook because they know you spend a lot of time there."

Right now, Ask says, there are only two companies pulling ahead in the space. "In the U.S., Facebook and Google are going head-to-head ... They are aggressively chasing this," she says.

Facebook Messenger users can now order up an Uber ride without leaving the social media giant’s communications app.

Google is testing a new chat service that would also answer questions using automated "chatbots" within the app, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources.

Google has already rolled out a service that answers a user's queries from within other apps, including messaging: Users who have Google Now on Tap can get more information about a restaurant or location by saying, "O.K., Google" or tapping a home button on phones running the latest Android software.

Slack, which surpassed 2 million daily active users, is collaborating with developers on "Slack-first apps" that manage the fast-paced work environment by targeting chores such as travel bookings, expense tracking and meeting scheduling within the messenger.

Earlier this year, Facebook began testing "M," a new digital assistant within Messenger, to answer questions, book travel and set appointments.

Ben Eidelson, a former Google product manager who worked on Google Hangouts and messaging, has founded a new company, Mensch Labs, to help big companies through this transition.

"We want existing companies to be able to use messaging as a sales channel," Eidelson says. "We want to help them build the in-house assistant."

There is one thing Eidelson says could make or break the brand-consumer messaging experience — word choice.

"Language is, in a way, everything here," Eidelson explains. "Their content needs to be on brand, that is the new retail experience for the customer. Customers will be very turned off if the brand isn't thoughtful about that."