Google Invites You to “Invite a Friend” to Google Voice

In this blog post, Google counters AT&T’s claims of non-inclusiveness, by stepping up viral efforts to make its call management and voice processing service more popular. As the blog post notes, the “early adopters” who are already up-and-running will see an “Invite a Friend” button on their main page.

Given that Google Voice was poised to open up its service to more users this quarter, the two actions are probably not related. It is more closely related to the recently announced partnership with Verizon Wireless, which promises to use the Google search box on Android-based handsets to provide direct access to Google applications and features. The success of such a tactic requires Google to do its best to enlist more handset owners to configure their Google Voice preferences from their desktops or laptops.

No wonder AT&T is so touchy.