Today's Google Post - Google AdSense is down... And Google Voice Arrives! I Already Love GoogleVoice!

I was just going to check my AdSense account because it's a great indicator of site traffic. And I get to see how many cents I earned today. I count in cents (single cents) though some days that's hard because I don't earn anything. Ahh, the life of a struggling blogger/entrepreneur.

Anyway... there's a point. AdSense is down. Never seen that before so thought I'd share it in case anyone else is wondering what's up?

More importantly. As a GrandCentral user, I got an email today that GrandCentral is migrating over to Google Voice. It instructed me to convert my account, which was nothing more than a simple GMail sign-in. And yes, you can change accounts, you don't need an existing Google account Very cool. It's still in beta, but should open up soon.

Here are the additional features they're offering now, from their email:

"In addition to the GrandCentral features you already know, we've added voicemail transcription, SMS support, conference calling, Goog411, enhanced spam protection and low-priced international calling. We have also integrated GrandCentral with your Google Account and your Google Contacts list."

Voicemail transcription? That rocks! I mean...this should kick some serious ass. I've started to use it a bit for a side business...which is very cool, because it keeps my personal number separate. You can see when a GrandCentral number is coming in since your GrandCentral number comes in on your caller id (for AT&T customers at least).

I feel like this is a big opportunity for people wanting additional numbers for businesses (now that phone numbers are portable, it doesn't do as much for regular users that don't care about the Google Voice features). As an entrepreneur/small business owner this is great for keeping things separate - and keeping restrictions on your business line (hours, messages, separate lines, etc). And for conference calling. And for free calling. And for free SMS. And for cheap international rates. I hope this integrates with GTalk soon. I can't imagine it not. And then I hope it kills Skype... because I hate anything owned by ebay.

Ok...so you can call anywhere in the US. And Google Voice will call that number and then ring yours. Free. You can use this for international calls (for a fee) and it will call your cell phone too. Bye bye Jajah. I used to use Jajah a ton when I was living in Hong Kong. If this works internationally, then they'll be in trouble soon. Google is really integrating all this awesomeness into their product. Of course with a ton of crap that gets filtered out when users don't start using it en masse.