Google had barely dipped a toe in the mortgage business, but it appears the tech giant is getting out.
Last November, Google launched Google Compare for mortgages, an online tool that allowed home buyers to find and compare home loans. The product was initially available only in California, and joined other Google Compare products that allowed consumers to find and compare credit cards and various types of insurance. There was talk that Google Compare could have eventually entered the Australian market as well.
Google didn’t actually fund mortgages, but it did register as a licensed mortgage broker, according to a CNN report. The company had hoped to use its global reach to provide consumers with niche products and financial services, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
But it appears the Compare product line hasn’t been as successful as the search engine titan had hoped. According to the Journal, Google struggled to sell ads on Compare – and the largest lenders and insurers simply declined to come on board.
In an email acquired by the website Search Engine Land, Google informed its partners that all Compare products – mortgage, insurance and credit card – would begin winding down immediately and shutter for good on March 23.
“Despite people turning to Google for financial services information, the Google Compare service itself hasn’t driven the success we hoped for,” the email stated. “We greatly appreciate your partnership and understand that this decision will be disappointing to some. But after a lot of careful consideration, we’ve decided that focusing more intently on AdWords and future innovations will enable us to provide fresh, comprehensive answers to Google users, and to provide our financial services partners with the best return on investment.”
The Compare site was always a risk. According to a Fox Business report, analysts warned at the outset that the product, by allowing consumers to buy mortgages and insurance policies directly, had the potential to anger lenders and insurers who were major advertising clients of Google.
Google has not yet officially commented on the shutdown.
Further details about the closure were reported in Search Engine Land.
Google’s lead generation product known as Google Compare, will start sunsetting this week.
In an email sent to partners and acquired by Search Engine Land, the Google Compare Team told Compare partners on Monday night that the product will start to wind down on Tuesday, February 23, 2016. Google Compare will shut down completely in both the US and UK — the two markets where Compare is offered — one month later on March 23.
The email to Compare partners:
From: Google Compare Team
Subject: An Update on Google CompareDear Partner,
Beginning on February 23, 2016, we will start ramping down the Google Compare product, which is currently live in both the US and UK. We plan to terminate the service as of March 23, 2016. As you know, Google Compare (formerly Google Advisor in the U.S.) has been a specialized, standalone service that enables consumers to get quotes from a number of providers for financial products such as car and travel insurance, credit cards and mortgages.
Despite people turning to Google for financial services information, the Google Compare service itself hasn’t driven the success we hoped for. We greatly appreciate your partnership and understand that this decision will be disappointing to some. But after a lot of careful consideration, we’ve decided that focusing more intently on AdWords and future innovations will enable us to provide fresh, comprehensive answers to Google users, and to provide our financial services partners with the best return on investment.
We’re grateful for all the feedback that you have provided over the course of this product’s development, and we are looking forward to partnering with you to achieve greater success in the future.
We will work with you during this transition and beyond. Please reach out to your Google representative if you have any questions and to discuss the next steps.
The Google Compare Team
Google has confirmed the email’s authenticity.
The company only recently began rebuilding the Compare product from the ashes of the Advisor program in the US. The single piece left standing from that initial effort was the credit card offering — savings accounts, CDs and mortgages had all discontinued. Compare for Auto Insurance launched just last March, starting in California. Then Google relaunched Compare for Mortgage quotes in November with Zillow and Lending Tree among the launch partners. Both of those relaunches had limited roll outs. In the UK, Google Compare has been running since 2012 for car insurance, mortgage rates, credit cards and travel insurance.
A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land that while searches on these queries remained high, the product didn’t get the traction it hoped for and revenue was minimal. That’s in part due to the limited availability of the products in both the US and the UK.
In the UK, the Compare product also came under scrutiny in 2014 by the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK financial services industry regulator, when comparison sites complained Google was competing unfairly by placing its own product at the top of the search results. However, any legal concerns did not play a role in the decision to close Compare, we’re told.
What’s next? Google says the focus will primarily be on AdWords and transitioning partners to standard ad products. However, it may still focus on the space and look at new product avenues.
While the move will come as a surprise to many outside the company, apparently internally this decision to terminate Compare is not coming as a shock. The Google spokesperson said the company will help Googlers currently working on Compare find new roles within the company.
