Google Assistant
Analysis
Holiday Season Forecast: 50 Percent Of All U.S. Consumers Will Own A Smart Speaker
Even though just 17 percent use voice to initiate a one-time order for pick-up in-store, as more brands strike deals with Google and Amazon, that will likely change as well as more smart devices alter the way people initiate a purchase, an Adobe study suggests.

Analysis
How Petco Is Using Voice Activation To Connect With Pet Owners
Petco recognized that if it recognized as the best source of pet information and finding pet products intelligently on Alexa and the Google Assistant, that is a strategic opportunity to take advantage of, says Petco partner Alpine.AI's Adam Marchick.

Analysis
Instead Of Flowers For Mother’s Day, Fin Offers Its Virtual Assistant As The Right Gift
Fin, the subscription-based digital assitant, is opening up its voice-activated recommendation and purchasing services to non-subscribers as co-founder Sam Lessin aims to prove it can understand "actual language" better than Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Analysis
Google I/O: Centrality Of Artificial Intelligence, Local Marketing, And (Yes) Optimism Draw Lines With Amazon, Facebook
Google's emphasis on local business for its Assistant, Maps and forthcoming Lens products has the search giant further postioning itself as the "anti-Amazon," UM's Joshua Lowcock explains.

Analysis
Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai: Google ‘Shopping Actions’ Increases Amount Of Purchases By 30 Percent
"The Google Assistant can now help you with over 1 million actions, including new things like reminding you to buy bread when you get to the store or sending money to friends or if you want to get a ride share home," says Pichai. "For a concept we unveiled at I/O less than 2 years ago, this is great progress."
