jatiN mahindrA doT coM

It looks like a certain search giant is ready to let some more people get their hands (or, um, mouths and ears) on Google Voice.  Google announced today that users will soon have the chance to invite their friends and family members (or cash-equipped individuals) to the service.

A post on the Official Google Blog stated, "Starting today, we’re beginning to give out invitations to Google Voice users.  If you currently use Google Voice, over the next few weeks, you’ll see an ‘Invite a friend’ link appear on the left-hand side of your inbox."

Then here are a couple of other key points: "We’ll be rolling out these invitations gradually, so don’t worry if you don’t see your invitations immediately.  We’re initially giving out three invites to each account, but we’re planning to provide more invitations in the future."

This gradual introduction should ensure that Google Voice isn’t overwhelmed by a sudden influx of users.  Outages don’t make for a good first impression.

Of course, this approach also creates a bit of scarcity and excitement – you can imagine people doling out invitations like great gifts, and more than 100 are already for sale on eBay.

It’ll be interesting to see how Google Voice catches on.  As you may remember, Google took a similar approach to rolling out Gmail, and it’s certainly done all right.

Related posts:

1. Google Talk Improves Voice, Video Performance
2. Google Voice Makes Way to iPhone, Palm WebOS
3. Google Voice Gets New Free VoIP Service
4. You Don’t Need a Google Number to Use Google Voice
5. AT&T Goes On The Offensive Against Google Voice
6. Apple May Have Some Explaining to Do Over Google Voice
7. Play Google Voice Messages Right in Gmail
8. Google Voice Merges Text Messages, Email
9. AT&T Fingered In Google Voice/App Store Fiasco
10. Tracking phone leads with Google Voice
11. Servicemembers Offered Special Access To Google Voice
12. Google Voice Completely Banned From Apple’s App Store