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Google Home Is 6 Times More Likely to Answer Your Question Than Amazon Alexa

106 points by kbyatnal 9y ago

dpflan 9y ago
useless comment: For fun, have an Alexa relay its questions to Google Home...Fact Checking...
tyingq 9y ago
Interesting, but no info on the set of 3000 questions. For example, maybe Alexa is better at the top 100 most asked questions, but Google Home is better at the long tail. Odd that there wouldn't be more insight either there, or at the 360i site.
- giveitachance 9y ago
  But if one can't trust a digital marketing agency to backup a catchy headline then who can one trust?
pishpash 9y ago
Well that's not surprising. Google basically ported over Google Now, a mature product; and Google has data. Amazon had some shopping data, and that was it.
- suyash 9y ago
  Exactly I'm willing to bet 5 years from now, Google Home or whatever version of this will leave Amazon Alexa in dust.
  - phinnaeus 9y ago
    Assuming, of course, that Google doesn't abandon the project for some reason. Or heaven forbid, try to implement messaging.
    - inthewoods 9y ago
      No, no - Google will instead release 3 or 4 non-compatible devices that all do something rather similar.
aioprisan 9y ago
Without seeing the 3000 questions and what categories they fall in, I wouldn't put too much stock into this article. I use both on a daily basis and Alexa is far more accurate than Google Home, but again that's my use case, mostly asking for radio stations, songs, news trivia questions and simple arithmetic.
jumpkickhit 9y ago
I really don't like having to voice a query, I'd much rather type it out. If Elon Musk sold a neuralink brain wi-fi device I'd be first in line for it. These voice activated search devices though, pass.
- drcross 9y ago
  Maybe so but for a lot of people they want information but dont want to stare at a screen to get it.
  - pound 9y ago
    Anything beyond few words direct answers is much better to see on screens.
  - ionised 9y ago
    Then they are not going to get a very substantial response.
- wubbfindel 9y ago
  Why the downvotes on this? I appreciate the thoughts. I think it's a real shame that Google's assistant isn't available in a desktop client, that can use either text or voice input.
  - mbrookes 9y ago
    Here you go: https://developers.google.com/actions/tools/web-simulator https://developers.google.com/actions/tools/web-simulator Okay, not strictly a desktop client, but the same end result. Similar is available for Alexa.
  - DrScump 9y ago
    It might be just a visceral, reflexive reaction to reading "neuralink brain wi-fi device" and then thinking to oneself, "am I really ready to join the Borg collective?"
  - euyyn 9y ago
ChuckMcM 9y ago
Back when Apple was looking over Blekko this was something we tried to point out to them (and the Siri team). You can't dialog what you don't know. Indexing the web really helps with that because not only can you pick up a lot of documents you can get a sense of which ones humans think are more important than others. To this day I don't know why Apple doesn't have a search engine team and crawler.
- tyingq 9y ago
  Apple just doesn't seem to want anything where the primary interaction isn't with their hardware device. Maybe just sticking to the model they know.
  - melling 9y ago
    Siri is pretty painful at times. Weird how the speech recognition can go so wonky. I’d buy an Alexa or Google Home if I knew one of these two companies was pushing to take these tools to the next level.
    - euyyn 9y ago
      Well, it's been a couple of years already since they announced at Google I/O that the Assistant was the future/evolution of Search.
- dunkelheit 9y ago
  Apple has a crawler! https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204683 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204683 Another question is why it is so low-key. I guess the answer lies in some obscure big-org power dynamics inside Apple.
  - melling 9y ago
    I think you need actual humans using it as a search engine to make it better. Typos, common questions, follow up questions, etc.
amclennon 9y ago
As an owner of four Echo / Echo Dots in my house, I can say that Alexa is terrible at answering questions outside of a few common areas (weather, store times, etc). With that said, I think the true power of Alexa's ecosystem is it's smart device integration. I'm sure Google will catch up soon enough, but at the moment I feel like Alexa still has a sizable lead.
- hbosch 9y ago
  In reference to the OP topic, I'm curious... How often do you use your echo as a Q&A device? Or is it just for media and assistant like functions (alarms, shopping, etc)?
- garblegarble 9y ago
  >at the moment I feel like Alexa still has a sizable lead. Do you really? I have 4 Echo & Echo Dots too and I love them, but the level of smart home integration is incredibly basic... "turn on the X (light)", "set the X (light) to 50%", "set the heat to 20" and "trigger find my phone". (edit: this post sounds pretty negative, it's mostly frustration because the speech recognition is actually really good, so when it fails it's really noticeable & the shallowness of comprehension of what I'm actually saying to it is so shocking when the speech recognition tech is that good) It will fairly often mishear light names (like my bedroom light, it confuses my name with "Theatre"), the integration will fail to contact a light (and instead of retrying the echo just says "I couldn't contact light X". It doesn't understand the room it's in (so I'm constantly having to name lights, rather than just tell it to turn on the light, or dim it). I feel like the level of integration needed from people like Hue and Nest is so simple that even the most basic integration into a competitor (with just as good / better mic+voice tech) could blow Alexa away overnight... it actually feels like something you could build in a few hours with access to the Alexa processing repo. ...which really kills me, because as you say Alexa is better than anything out there, but it feels like all they're doing is adding funny responses to pre-canned phrases rather than trying to seriously improve their smart home proposition or trying to tackle the context/discoverability problem
  - supergeek133 9y ago
sna1l 9y ago
I asked Google Home: "Is it cold outside?" and it responded: "Sorry, I can't answer that yet." Seriously!? This is the same for all of these home devices, but I have to talk to it in such a robotic manner, and if I deviate at all it won't do what I want. It definitely has some niceties, but a long way to go to being essential in my life.
- euyyn 9y ago
  That's weird; the Assistant on the Pixel responds to that with "No, it's not cold in Mountain View right now. The temperature right now is 29." (and shows a weather forecast card).
  - haberman 9y ago
    I can confirm both of these results: Google Home said "Sorry, I don't know how to help with that" and Google Assistant on my iPhone answered "No, it's not cold in Seattle right now. The temperature right now is 66."
    - euyyn 9y ago
      Maybe the location of the Google Home hasn't been set, via the Home app? And so it doesn't know where it is.
      - sna1l 9y ago
        Hmm weird, when I ask what's the weather outside, it answers correctly.
        euyyn 9y ago
        I haven't tried, but I think you can tell it to send feedback to the engineers.
twothamendment 9y ago
Yes, Alexa is bad at answering random things we throw at it, but making an app to control what I want to and how is why I love it. I don't trust Google to be as open.
J_cortes 9y ago
Did everyone forget GoogleTV? Amazon has a strong presence in the retail market and my amazon kindle dx is still supported. I'm not wasting my time with google again.
- navytank 9y ago
  One critical difference: GoogleTV was a platform where distribution (updates, etc.) were owned by the TV manufacturer. Google owns the update channel on Google Home. It's like comparing the Pixel now to early carrier-operated Android phones.
tatfat 9y ago
This headline reminds me of 80s and 90s when folks touted why <pickYourOS> was better than windows. Ultimately, the ecosystem and network effects matter more.
matthewfelgate 9y ago
No it's not because I don't have a Google Home.

106 points by kbyatnal 9y ago

useless comment: For fun, have an Alexa relay its questions to Google Home...Fact Checking...

Interesting, but no info on the set of 3000 questions. For example, maybe Alexa is better at the top 100 most asked questions, but Google Home is better at the long tail. Odd that there wouldn't be more insight either there, or at the 360i site.

giveitachance 9y ago
But if one can't trust a digital marketing agency to backup a catchy headline then who can one trust?

pishpash 9y ago

Well that's not surprising. Google basically ported over Google Now, a mature product; and Google has data. Amazon had some shopping data, and that was it.

suyash 9y ago
Exactly I'm willing to bet 5 years from now, Google Home or whatever version of this will leave Amazon Alexa in dust.
- phinnaeus 9y ago
  Assuming, of course, that Google doesn't abandon the project for some reason. Or heaven forbid, try to implement messaging.
  - inthewoods 9y ago
    No, no - Google will instead release 3 or 4 non-compatible devices that all do something rather similar.

aioprisan 9y ago

Without seeing the 3000 questions and what categories they fall in, I wouldn't put too much stock into this article. I use both on a daily basis and Alexa is far more accurate than Google Home, but again that's my use case, mostly asking for radio stations, songs, news trivia questions and simple arithmetic.

jumpkickhit 9y ago

I really don't like having to voice a query, I'd much rather type it out. If Elon Musk sold a neuralink brain wi-fi device I'd be first in line for it. These voice activated search devices though, pass.

drcross 9y ago
Maybe so but for a lot of people they want information but dont want to stare at a screen to get it.
- pound 9y ago
  Anything beyond few words direct answers is much better to see on screens.
- ionised 9y ago
  Then they are not going to get a very substantial response.
wubbfindel 9y ago
Why the downvotes on this? I appreciate the thoughts. I think it's a real shame that Google's assistant isn't available in a desktop client, that can use either text or voice input.
- mbrookes 9y ago
  Here you go: https://developers.google.com/actions/tools/web-simulator https://developers.google.com/actions/tools/web-simulator Okay, not strictly a desktop client, but the same end result. Similar is available for Alexa.
- DrScump 9y ago
  It might be just a visceral, reflexive reaction to reading "neuralink brain wi-fi device" and then thinking to oneself, "am I really ready to join the Borg collective?"
- euyyn 9y ago

ChuckMcM 9y ago

Back when Apple was looking over Blekko this was something we tried to point out to them (and the Siri team). You can't dialog what you don't know. Indexing the web really helps with that because not only can you pick up a lot of documents you can get a sense of which ones humans think are more important than others. To this day I don't know why Apple doesn't have a search engine team and crawler.

tyingq 9y ago
Apple just doesn't seem to want anything where the primary interaction isn't with their hardware device. Maybe just sticking to the model they know.
- melling 9y ago
  Siri is pretty painful at times. Weird how the speech recognition can go so wonky. I’d buy an Alexa or Google Home if I knew one of these two companies was pushing to take these tools to the next level.
  - euyyn 9y ago
    Well, it's been a couple of years already since they announced at Google I/O that the Assistant was the future/evolution of Search.
dunkelheit 9y ago
Apple has a crawler! https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204683 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204683 Another question is why it is so low-key. I guess the answer lies in some obscure big-org power dynamics inside Apple.
- melling 9y ago
  I think you need actual humans using it as a search engine to make it better. Typos, common questions, follow up questions, etc.

amclennon 9y ago

As an owner of four Echo / Echo Dots in my house, I can say that Alexa is terrible at answering questions outside of a few common areas (weather, store times, etc). With that said, I think the true power of Alexa's ecosystem is it's smart device integration. I'm sure Google will catch up soon enough, but at the moment I feel like Alexa still has a sizable lead.

hbosch 9y ago
In reference to the OP topic, I'm curious... How often do you use your echo as a Q&A device? Or is it just for media and assistant like functions (alarms, shopping, etc)?
garblegarble 9y ago
>at the moment I feel like Alexa still has a sizable lead. Do you really? I have 4 Echo & Echo Dots too and I love them, but the level of smart home integration is incredibly basic... "turn on the X (light)", "set the X (light) to 50%", "set the heat to 20" and "trigger find my phone". (edit: this post sounds pretty negative, it's mostly frustration because the speech recognition is actually really good, so when it fails it's really noticeable & the shallowness of comprehension of what I'm actually saying to it is so shocking when the speech recognition tech is that good) It will fairly often mishear light names (like my bedroom light, it confuses my name with "Theatre"), the integration will fail to contact a light (and instead of retrying the echo just says "I couldn't contact light X". It doesn't understand the room it's in (so I'm constantly having to name lights, rather than just tell it to turn on the light, or dim it). I feel like the level of integration needed from people like Hue and Nest is so simple that even the most basic integration into a competitor (with just as good / better mic+voice tech) could blow Alexa away overnight... it actually feels like something you could build in a few hours with access to the Alexa processing repo. ...which really kills me, because as you say Alexa is better than anything out there, but it feels like all they're doing is adding funny responses to pre-canned phrases rather than trying to seriously improve their smart home proposition or trying to tackle the context/discoverability problem
- supergeek133 9y ago

sna1l 9y ago

I asked Google Home: "Is it cold outside?" and it responded: "Sorry, I can't answer that yet." Seriously!? This is the same for all of these home devices, but I have to talk to it in such a robotic manner, and if I deviate at all it won't do what I want. It definitely has some niceties, but a long way to go to being essential in my life.

euyyn 9y ago
That's weird; the Assistant on the Pixel responds to that with "No, it's not cold in Mountain View right now. The temperature right now is 29." (and shows a weather forecast card).
- haberman 9y ago
  I can confirm both of these results: Google Home said "Sorry, I don't know how to help with that" and Google Assistant on my iPhone answered "No, it's not cold in Seattle right now. The temperature right now is 66."
  - euyyn 9y ago
    Maybe the location of the Google Home hasn't been set, via the Home app? And so it doesn't know where it is.
    - sna1l 9y ago
      Hmm weird, when I ask what's the weather outside, it answers correctly.
      - euyyn 9y ago
        I haven't tried, but I think you can tell it to send feedback to the engineers.

twothamendment 9y ago

Yes, Alexa is bad at answering random things we throw at it, but making an app to control what I want to and how is why I love it. I don't trust Google to be as open.

J_cortes 9y ago

Did everyone forget GoogleTV? Amazon has a strong presence in the retail market and my amazon kindle dx is still supported. I'm not wasting my time with google again.

navytank 9y ago
One critical difference: GoogleTV was a platform where distribution (updates, etc.) were owned by the TV manufacturer. Google owns the update channel on Google Home. It's like comparing the Pixel now to early carrier-operated Android phones.

tatfat 9y ago

This headline reminds me of 80s and 90s when folks touted why <pickYourOS> was better than windows. Ultimately, the ecosystem and network effects matter more.

matthewfelgate 9y ago

No it's not because I don't have a Google Home.