Google to take on Skype?

The Google war machine rumbles on again. Not content with ongoing conflicts with Facebook, Microsoft and the entire country of China, Google have set their sights on communications service Skype.

Until the end of the year, Gmail users in the US and Canada will be able to make free calls to national numbers, along with calls to the UK, France, Germany and China for just two cents a minute.

Up until now, low cost internet to telephone calls have been dominated by Skype’s service, which also allows for free online video, audio and text communication. With over 560 million registered users and 8.1 million paying customers, Skype are fairly entrenched in the market. To the point that their company name (like Google’s) is used as a verb to describe their key service.

So, will Googling overtake Skypeing as the internet’s primary form of instant communication? Only time will tell on this one.

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