Google is running out of time to step up its messaging efforts

Messaging is the new battleground among powerful tech companies. Facebook, Snapchat and Microsoft are racing to build ever more powerful chat apps, based on artificial intelligence, virtual assistants and bots. Some industry insiders predict that messaging will become the next big computing platform, providing a new way for consumers to do everything from shop online to reading the news. As Google kicks off its annual developer conference near San Francisco next week, a growing number of users, software developers and analysts think Google needs to get on the ball and make some messaging-based announcements. The company's Hangouts chat app was an early success when it was introduced years ago, but appears to have languished recently. Here's why Google can't afford to ignore the messaging threat: Everyone's talking about how chat is the next big thing.