According to TechCrunch Google has acquired skype-like VoIP venture Gizmo5 in a $30 million cash transaction.

Similar to Skype, Gizmo5 allows users to call other Gizmo users at no charge, offers cheap call rates to landlines and mobile phones and allows for SMS and Instant Messaging.

Google has not confirmed or commented on the buyout but the general consensus amongst industry experts is that the deal has indeed been done.

VoIP Watch blog author Andy Abramson considers the search giant’s acquisition a key component of its VoIP strategy. The Gizmo5 technology serves as a PSTN (public switched telephone network) link for Google allowing users to make conventional landline or mobile calls. This, combined with Google’s own Google Voice call management application and Google Talk (its voice/chat application), the path to a whole new all conquering service, “a lot more powerful than Skype” has been laid.

How exactly Google will shape its new masterpiece and what this will mean for consumers is still unclear but Abramson speculates that Google may offer a “free, ad-support phone service”, that is a service that is free and driven by advertising revenue.

Regardless of the details, VoIP is bound to change the face of telecommunications as we know it.