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Google Hangouts was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+ in 2011, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger and Google Talk into Hangouts. Google then began integrating features of Google Voice, its Internet telephony product, into Hangouts, stating that Hangouts was designed to be "the future" of Voice.