Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) plans to launch a tool that allows users to compare financial products like travel, credit cards, and bank services. The new search service is simple: when a user searches for certain financial product or service on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), the search engine will display ad units that match the query. What’s more important is that the ad units will display competitive prices to help users find the best deal.
Last year, Google acquired BeatThatQuote.com, a British price comparison website. It is speculated that Google will use that website’s technology for their new feature. The tool will launch tonight in the US and UK. At first, the ad units will appear with select search terms but over the next few days, they will release a wider number of search terms. The products featured will be from companies that Google has commercial agreements with.
Google purchase BeatThatQuote.com for GBP 37.7 million.
This service will make it easier for financial companies to market their products and it will benefit the consumer by offering them a choice of financial products at competitive prices.
It took Google a full year after acquiring BeatThatQuote.com to launch their new tool. There is no word on what the website will look like or if it is predicted to be a success. It’s reported that there will be a big block for each result which will probably feature more details about each product or service.
Google already has one price comparison website for consumer and business products. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t just merge their financial product search with this tool. The one upside to applying the ad units to search engine results is that it will bring products to the people. If they can easily find what they are looking for, they are more likely to buy what they see.
(H/T DREW OLANOFF of TNW)
