http://youtu.be/K-VFC9AQM1k
Next time you're looking for help and you turn to Google, you might just get a real person on the other end of the line
For years we've been turning to Google for answers for every problem we have in our life, from how to cook dinner to translations of various languages, and now they
have launched a service called Helpouts, where a real person helps you out in real time.
The idea is that you can contact someone who knows what their up to in order to help you out, using their Hangout feature, which is pretty much a video chat. You'll obviously part with some cash for the other person's time (Google takes 20% of that fee), but Google will also vet the marketplace to make sure that you don't end up with a Spanish teacher like
Señor Chang from Community.
Around a thousand companies have been invited to participate so far, such as Rosetta Stone and Sephora, and Google plans to keep to that number for the moment as it will remain an invite-only service for those interested in providing help.
You can browse all the categories of Helpouts from fitness tips to learning a language as well as learning to cook, but if you want to get involved you'll need a Google + profile, and pay through Google Wallet. You can give feedback and rate your Helpout after your session, but if you feel that you've been had, you can immediately exit a Helpout, report the vendor and get a refund too.
Udi Manber, Google's vice-president of engineering told
Mashable that this new project was a fantastic way to use the power of the internet because "the world's most useful information [still] resides in people's heads."
You can make an appointment with the companies, or you can get connected to someone right away if there's anyone available to help you out then and there.
If you want to check out what the whole thing looks like and what services are on offer by
heading to the Helpouts page, where they already have a few free ones available.
