Helpouts: A dissection – What went wrong?

If you haven’t heard by now, Google Helpouts will be shutting down on April 20th, 2015. The official reason was due to lack of use which surprised no one. Thankfully, those who did use the platform can backup all of their data using Google Takeout and that will be available to them until November 1st.

The downfall of the one-on-one tutorial platform really isn’t surprising. Despite many attempts, Helpouts never seemed to hit the mainstream. Let’s explore why.

Google Search was simply better

Sadly, the bottom line is that there wasn’t much on Helpouts that you couldn’t get for free on Google and YouTube with some simple searching. Need to learn how to cook? There’s a channel for that. Need help figuring out how to make money on YouTube? There are countless tutorials on that.

It was the core problem with Helpouts since the very beginning. There were people asking for money (usually) to help with problems that a little knowledge, creativity, and Google Searching could solve for free. Would it be easier to get it done in 15 minutes? Yes, but was it worth $25 to get that information? Apparently not, but we’ll get more into that later.

The pricing structure was brutal

Helpouts had two pricing structures. Video hosts could charge for a chunk of time (e.g. $10 per 15 minutes) or charge by the minute (e.g. $0.59 per minute). Neither of these scenarios were usually very helpful and costs could add up very quickly.

With both pricing structures, you are never sure that you’re going to get the help you needed inside of the budget and time that you had. A $25 Helpout that promises only 15 minutes of help isn’t particularly reassuring and that’s especially true for the ones who offered advice and tutorials. What exactly is anyone going to learn in 15 minutes that justifies $25?

No one should be battling the urge to yell at the professional to shut up and get to the point because time is money.

While we’re at it, the pay-per-minute structure was about as stressful of an experience as you could get. Every minute that passed was more money out of your pocket. Isn’t the idea of getting the help you need supposed to be to relieve stress? Who wants to sit around for 10 minutes having a concept explained to them when each minute is going to cost them more money? No one should be in a video hangout with a professional, battling the urge to yell at the professional to shut up and get to the point because time is money.

Nobody knows who these Helpouts people are

If the service were entirely free, this wouldn’t matter. However, when you’re asking for $25 for 15 minutes of time, the question becomes, “Who the hell are you and why are you worth $100/hour?” It’s a question that was seldom, if ever, answered. No one knew who these self-proclaimed experts were or what their qualifications were.

Who the hell are you and why are you worth $100/hour?

Yeah there’s a guy who promises to help you grow your YouTube channel. Does he know anything about YouTube channels? If I were taking YouTube growth advice from PewDiePie, Smosh, or Vevo, that information is well worth $25 for 15 minutes. I know who they are and I can visibly see their success. Most content creators have no problems producing vaguely worded excerpts like, “I work for top people doing top things.” That’s not very reassuring.

Now before everyone starts hating me, I’m not saying these people aren’t qualified or aren’t good people. The few I’ve met seem like good, knowledgeable people. The problem is that I had to meet them to know they were good, knowledgeable people and meeting them costs money. You’re essentially asking people to spend money on faith that the person on the other end of the video doesn’t suck.

The content was niche

Helpouts was originally promoted to be a place where you could learn anything and at first, that seemed like it could be true. However, Google bottlenecked this process severely by strictly screening potential candidates. A process they did very slowly resulting in a very poor flow of new content creators. The floodgates for content variety just never seemed to open up.

This created a problem. When you first heard about Helpouts, what did you do? If you’re like me, you probably went on over to the site to see what was going on. Like me, you probably didn’t see anything worth doing. You then probably left, checked back once or twice, saw the exact same stuff at the exact same price, left, and never went back. That’s certainly what I did.

There is exactly one search result for “student loans”

What content there is currently available on Helpouts is generally niche. Expert YouTube Marketing Strategies, WordPress Development and Programming, Life Coaching for the Self-Employed, etc have a combined total potential user base similar to the entire viewership of the final episode of TV’s No Ordinary Family.

What’s worse is that a lot of stuff people actually need help with don’t seem to be represented. There are roughly 40 channels on how to properly breastfeed, a skill that is extensively written about everywhere. There is exactly one search result for “student loans” and it’s to help people “hustle” their way into getting enough money for college.

The service could’ve probably used more people like Michael Morgan, the 24 hour emergency mechanic.

There are over 70 Helpouts available for the ever-changing monster that is SEO (search engine optimization) but there’s only one Helpouts channel that pops up when you search for “changing oil” that is actually capable of helping you change your oil. To that one guy’s credit, he’s open pretty much 24/7 for emergency consults on all sorts of car repairs which is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most epicly useful thing I’ve seen on Helpouts.

In short, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of channels for niche needs but not very many for more mainstream problems. The service could’ve probably used more people like Michael Morgan, the 24 hour emergency mechanic.

The organization was terrible

This one is quick. Go and search for a mechanic on Google Helpouts. The top result? A mechanic for WordPress. Also on that list are two physics tutors, a bike repair channel, and a guy to help with your golf swing. In the first ten results, there are only three actual mechanics.

It’s extremely difficult to find what you’re looking for. The search has trouble inferring from context. For example, “how to change the oil in my car” shows no results, but there are several channels on Helpouts that can teach you exactly that.

Between the goofy names and bad search mechanics, good luck finding something you’re actually looking for. Most people don’t have the time or patience to search for just the right thing to get them help when you can ask Google Search anything and get more results. Let’s not forget that there’s no search bar on the homepage.

Greed

Greed goes both ways. On one hand, you have people charging $100 per hour for essentially blowing smoke and providing nothing of real use. On the other hand, few people who visited the site had any real intention of spending money there anyway.

It’s a crux that has plagued many ecosystems and one as fragile as Helpouts simply couldn’t handle it. This is why most websites and YouTube content are paid for by advertising. It costs consumers nothing except maybe a moment of their time to hear or see the advertising and the people providing the content still get paid.

We live in a world now where people are trying to get as much as they can for as little money as possible.

On Helpouts, there was no symbiosis between content creators and consumers. There was no real solution available that made everyone happy. Professionals and experts actually do deserve money for their expertise but this was perverted by some professionals and experts who didn’t understand the budget of their audience, wanted more for their services than they deserved, or a combination of both.

For consumers, they could easily find video and written tutorials that cost them nothing aside from the occasional advertisement. Most of them simply weren’t willing to spend the money on the useful advice and were often chased away by those who asked for too much. We live in a world now where people are trying to get as much as they can for as little money as possible. Helpouts and some of its content creators simply didn’t fit that cultural paradigm.

Wrap Up

Helpouts felt like a smaller tool that was supposed to be a part of something bigger

Overall, Helpouts felt like a smaller tool that was supposed to be a part of something bigger. It never really had the value or depth of a platform like Udemy where professionals create entire courses, people pay for them once, and have access forever. In a perfect world, you’d see Udemy and Helpouts combine forces, give people entire courses to take, and use the video Helpouts as an aid to learning rather than the focal point. Nevertheless, this will go down in the annals as a failed experiment like Wave and Google Reader. Rest in peace, Helpouts.

Beta channel for Android WebView open to Android 5.0 Lollipop devices

Many were concerned with Google’s decision to unbundle WebView from the core system starting with Android 5.0 Lollipop. Older devices would be left behind, too, without updates and that means compromised security. Fortunately, Google has realized so many Android apps take advantage of WebView that it only makes sense to further support. With the latest version of Android, Google will be able to update WebView independently. Right now, developers can join the new beta channel to gain access to new APIs and other items. Developers will be able to become familiar with the updates before users get to see them.

You can join the beta channel of Android System WebView by clicking here.

Source: Android Developers Blog

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Google to finish work on 2-in-1 Chromebooks by Q1 2015: Report

A new report suggests that Google will conclude the development of its 2-in-1 Chromebook project by the end of first quarter (March). A device like this allows customers to use the device as a standard Chromebook as well as an Android tablet. We can expect devices sporting this form factor to hit the markets over the coming months.

This comes not long after we came across a potential Chromebook Pixel successor in the wild. A product like this will finally integrate Android and Chrome OS the way Google intends to. We’re already seeing a myriad of Android features on Chrome OS, so it was about time that a device like this took shape.

It is said that this 2-in-1 device will work on Chrome OS when a keyboard is attached, but when removed, it will quickly transform into an Android tablet. We will be curious to see how a device like this will work, especially considering our familiarity with Chrome OS as well as Android.

The report also mentions that Microsoft will react strongly to this by lowering the licensing fees for Windows 10 and encouraging more OEMs to take the 2-in-1 route with Windows. If these reports materialize, we might be in for a fun 2015. What do you think?

Source: Digitimes

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Google Helpouts shutting down April 20th

Friday the 13th’s first reaping is upon us, as Google’s Helpouts program, launched back in November 2013, will be shutting down at the end of April.

The service, utilizing the Google Hangouts platform, provided a way for people to get help on a variety of topics, spanning from cooking to tech support. Helpouts also allowed providers of expertise to sell their services, like in the case of piano lessons.

Google has posted a short informational about the closing on its product support page, but also took the time to send out an email discussing the matter:

Hi Joseph,
We have some sad news to share with you today: Helpouts will be shutting down onApril 20th, 2015. While this announcement was just posted on our site, we wanted you to hear the news directly from us. 
Since launching in 2013, Helpouts has been a home for people to connect with experts on topics they want to learn about or seek advice and solutions to everyday problems. The Helpouts community includes some engaged and loyal contributors, but unfortunately, it hasn’t grown at the pace we had expected. Sadly, we’ve made the tough decision to shut down the product. 
Starting April 20th, you’ll be able to download your Helpouts history using Google Takeout (available until November 1st, 2015). Until then, you can email us with any questions or concerns you have about your account or take a look at these FAQs. 
We want to thank you for your support—both the providers who shared their expertise with the world, and the people who needed some extra help or advice along the way. You’ve had a lot to contribute—and we’ve loved learning alongside you. 
Our best wishes,
The Helpouts Team

The Google Takeout mentioned by Google is a web-based program that allows users to download their Google data across the entirety of the Google products spectrum. You can visit that page by clicking here.

So long, Google Helpouts. It actually was a clever idea, it just never seemed to take off.

Source: Google

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Google intros Carboard-based View-Master

On Friday, Google and Mattel announced the fruit of a new partnership: a View-Master that uses Google’s Cardboard technology.

Cardboard is Google’s virtual-reality platform, and Mattel hopes to use it in a product that will allow kids to explore famous places, landmarks, planets, and so forth. It uses an Android smartphone as the display and the View-Master itself as the housing.

This device is a successor to the View-Master made decades ago, which projected 3D-like images as children flipped through its picture reels.

It might be what Mattel needs to hold off rivals such as Hasbro and Lego. The company’s revenue has been decreasing slightly in recent quarters, even while the aforementioned have been able to increase theirs.

Google and Mattel expect the View-Master to be released in October.

For more information on the product, check out the official site here.

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Google Maps lane guidance reaches 15 new European countries

Google’s beloved Maps service recently had its 10-year birthday. It’s been a long road, if you pardon the pun, and it’s amazing to see how far this intrepid project has gone.

But Google definitely isn’t sitting back yet. Starting immediately, the new lane guidance feature in Maps will now be delivering instructions to drivers in 15 new European countries. The feature has been available to certain markets, like the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom to name a few, since last year.

If you’re a resident of one of these new locations and are running at least Maps 8.0, you should be noticing lane guidance as of now.

Google’s lane guidance is exactly what it sounds. If you are on the road and are nearing an exit or turn, lane guidance will give you advanced warning of which lane you need to be in so you can better prepare for your turn-off. This should help alleviate the user from needing to frantically scramble across multiple lanes of traffic for their exit.

The 15 new countries are as follows:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• Greece
• Hungary
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Sweden
• Switzerland

As mentioned, there have been a few European countries that have already had this service, which Talk Android covered back in December. Citizens of France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and the UK are the ones who have had this feature already. 

No word yet on whether or not this feature will be expanding to Middle-Earth…  (Insert cheesy “You shall not pass!” joke here, roll on snare drum.)

Source: Google Maps

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