Google shutters auto insurance, mortgage comparison site after one year
Alphabet's Google is shuttering Compare on March 23, a service that allowed users to comparison shop auto insurance, credit cards, and mortgages.
Google Compare was launched in March 2015 and was a new approach for Google, as it had never previously collected such personal details for search purposes.
Google confirmed the initial report from Search Engine Land and several insurance partners have reported the same story. We have reached out to Google for more.
Google Compare generated revenue off referral commissions from insurers and lenders.
"It was a bit shocking today to hear that they are exiting," Compare.com CEO Andrew Rose told Insurance Journal. "It's just interesting to see them throwing in the towel."
Search Engine Land received a copy of the letter being sent to Compare partners:
Dear 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