Google “Send to Phone” Gone — Where to Find Free Texting Now?

Did you know that Google has dropped its “Send to Phone” free SMS sending service? I didn’t…until I happened to go try to use it today and found myself greeted with this message:

“Send to Phone” had let you fire off unlimited texts to any U.S. mobile number through either a Web interface or a Firefox/IE toolbar. Google quietly retired it within the past few weeks, though, making no formal announcement outside of the notice on the page. A spokesperson was not immediately available Thursday to provide any further explanation as to the reason for its discontinuation.

Fear not, though: The era of free Internet-based text messaging is not over. I’ve had good luck with Gizmo SMS, a similarly simple Web-based SMS provider with no fees. Unlike Google’s former service, it even supports texts to a ton of countries outside the U.S. If that doesn’t meet your fancy, txtDrop.com is another comparable alternative, though only for users in the U.S. and Canada.