Just this week Google launched its desktop tool... now it is rumoured to be going even further. The LA Times, quoting anonymous sources, says that Google is preparing to launch a new instant messaging platform - and that it may include internet telephony.

According to a person who has seen the service, Google plans to let users chat using more than just their keyboards. Like similar programs from competitors, Google Talk also will let computer users with a headset have voice conversations with other computer users with headsets, this person said.

I don't agree with the article's rather simple analysis ("the goal is to get consumers to stay longer, rather than simply search for websites and then click away" - surely the goal is to click away in a way which makes Google money) but "Google Talk" is both an exciting and a sobering proposition: and further proof that Google's not just in this game, it's out to crush everybody else.

The forums at SearchEngineWatch.com are starting to buzz. One poster mentions the inevitable privacy concerns with such a product:

"Google needs to give users a unique or semi-unique offering to get them using the software and to calm their nerves about advertising targeted to messaging or chat conversations"

Let's wait and see.