Did Amazon's Alexa Just Get A Lot Smarter? New Feature May Help Provide Boost To Businesses

Picking up a smartphone and using a search engine for the hours or address of a nearby business usually takes less than 60 seconds, but for some even that might be too time consuming or arduous of a task. The newest feature of Amazon’s Alexa voice companion may make things easier and quicker.

Business technology company Yext, Inc. on Wednesday announced a partnership with Amazon to incorporate its extensive database of business information into Amazon’s Alexa voice interface. It basically means owners of Amazon Echo smart-speaker devices can get information on a grocery store's hours or get a restaurant’s phone number in a similar way already available through Google Maps.

In fact, it might be exactly the same as the data Google has on businesses. Businesses pay Yext to keep data up-to-date and Yext in turn supplies it directly to Google and, now, Amazon. The idea, per Yext’s website, is to allow businesses to set the record straight on their own terms.

“Yext’s mission is to give companies control over their brand experiences across the digital universe of maps, apps, search engines, voice assistants, and other intelligent services that drive consumer discovery, decision, and action,” according to Yext's official website.

As an added bonus, Yext even includes some restaurants' nutritional information. That means Echo owners can ask for calorie counts on menu items that supply that data to Yext.

Shares of Yext (YEXT) on Wednesday surged nearly 20 percent.

For Amazon, this has the immediate effect of making Echo a more useful device. However, there is a business motivation behind the partnership, as well. As Bloomberg pointed out, working with Yext allows Amazon to occupy some space in territory long dominated by Google, Amazon’s biggest competitor.

Google’s Home smart-speaker overtook Amazon Echo in the first quarter of the year, but still lagged behind Echo’s overall sales.