How can they not see this as incredibly confusing? I'm constantly surprised by Google's poor naming and branding choices.

It is odd. Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Google Now. Which one is least easy to work into a sentence?

The same one that correctly sets expectations that you're interacting with a service and not a person?

That's separate from the issue. For example, what do I mean if I say:

I like using google now to check the weather

Whether it sounds like a persons name isn't the issue.

FYI, the new iteration isn’t called Google Now anymore but Google Assistant. Not that that helps with your complaint.

> Not that that helps with your complaint.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the complaint (which is possible, it wasn't actually explained very well, just through an example or two but without a definition), it does help with the complaint.

Unless the complaint is actually "I like my services to have single word monikers", in which it doesn't, but in that case I'm not sure I think it's a complaint worth addressing without some explanation as to why that's actually important.

"Google now" is not memorable, and when used in various common sentences, the words are ambiguous. You could be talking about the company or the search engine. Similar for "Assistant", though a bit less so.

Whether it's a person's name or not, I know what Siri is. There are two word brands that work fine as well. Company <very common term> though, is hard to pull off.

> Similar for "Assistant", though a bit less so.

> Company <very common term> though, is hard to pull off.

I think when <very common term> actually describes what the service does, it's an entirely different story. If I say I'm using Google assistant to map a route for me, or answer some search terms, even if there isn't a marketing campaign that's pervasive enough to seed the service name in my memory and the memory of those I am talking to, there's a high likelihood they know or can figure out what I'm talking about. There's only so much room for people to remember service names like that and expect them to be ubiquitous. I would much rather they be called Apple/Amazon/Google assistant so I didn't need to know them. It's not like there's a high chance of me using Siri or Alexa any time soon, since I don't own any devices that provide them. I don't use Cortana because why bother, I only have that for my desktop/laptop, and I can just as easily (if not more easily) search with text generally.

Ah, you mean the ambiguity that "now" could mean what it usually does? As in, "I like using Google right now..."

That's one example, yes. Two more:

Do you like google now? Is google now the market leader?

Also, the wake word is entirely different..."ok Google".

I can figure it all out. My mom, though? Alexa makes more sense to her.