Google Apps Standard might be different. Google Apps Standard is offering you the same thing that Google already offers for free, just using your own domain. It still has ads and such. As such, as long as Gmail, Google Calendar, etc. remain profitable, then Gmail for your domain, Google Calendar for your domain, etc. should have the same level of profitability (and cost). The additional service that Google is offering via Google Apps Standard is the ability to use your own domain which really doesn't cost Google.
GOOG-411 wasn't ad supported so they didn't make any money off of it. It seemed like it was being run in order to collect voice data to create better speech recognition algorithms. Now that many have smartphones, they're getting that data in a cheaper way and, ultimately, in a way that they can monetize easier. Rather than paying 800-number charges for everyone to call into (and pay while the call was connected), people are using their iPhone and Android devices to give Google voice data.
I think Google Voice is the more likely service to get canned. Phone charges can become burdensome while bandwidth is essentially free when you're Google's size (since I'm guessing they're working off peering agreements more than buying bandwidth). Even if they were buying bandwidth, bandwidth is something with lots of competitors and very low regulatory charges. Phone connections are different.
Whether it's Apps Standard, or Voice, or something else. I meant my point more generally; if you aren't paying for it, somebody is, and they may decide to stop.
Apps Standard has been on my mind because it is currently a useful solution for a few small businesses I know, but I caution them about becoming over-reliant.
(I've argued the cost efficiency of Premier, but they are watching every nickle and dime, at present. Hopefully, if the free Standard version does go away, Premier or similar will remain -- I mean, Google's been been engaging in large, long term Apps contracts with outfits quite capable of "lawyering up" -- and at a price that is manageable.
I know: I'd just plunk down the money, for something that is business critical. But, it's not my call. Their initial use is not business critical, but that's a slippery slope.)
P.S. I haven't researched nor thought it through, but my perception of Voice has been as a partial workaround and/or escape hatch for carrier lock in. For the time being, it helps keep the pressure on.
Longer term? Well, rumors are that Google has invested in a LOT of backbone capacity. Voice may be a step in capturing interactive content transfer, and the advertising/marketing niches that exist both within it and from analysis of resulting meta-data. It may also offer some direct revenue; they already charge (U.S. customers) for foreign calls.
Hmm... will Google roll out a SIP telecommunications service, at some point, to go along with their professional Apps offers? (Maybe the regulation would be far too hairy; otherwise, it would seem a likely cross marketing opportunity, at least until such communications become more fully integrated into a more general communications paradigm, if ever.)
GOOG-411 wasn't ad supported so they didn't make any money off of it. It seemed like it was being run in order to collect voice data to create better speech recognition algorithms. Now that many have smartphones, they're getting that data in a cheaper way and, ultimately, in a way that they can monetize easier. Rather than paying 800-number charges for everyone to call into (and pay while the call was connected), people are using their iPhone and Android devices to give Google voice data.
I think Google Voice is the more likely service to get canned. Phone charges can become burdensome while bandwidth is essentially free when you're Google's size (since I'm guessing they're working off peering agreements more than buying bandwidth). Even if they were buying bandwidth, bandwidth is something with lots of competitors and very low regulatory charges. Phone connections are different.