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Local Lead Generation Shakeup ... Courtesy: Google

by Synnuh
9 replies


Still not quite sure what to think about this.

I know it works, so it makes me nervous that they're getting into the space.

On the other hand, I've watched other Google efforts flop, so there's a chance this one might too, right?

Don't Call A Plumber - Call (or Text) Google Concierge | Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
#courtesy #generation #google #lead #local #shakeup
  • Profile picture of the author shockwave
    Hmmmmm....I've done several {plumber + city} checks some in major cities and some in tier 2/tier 3 cities (and I'm in the midwest). From what I see, these type of results are only popping up in California....but only in certain cities.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    Could California be the first testing place, before taking on Angie's List ? If this works they may roll this out in every major city and knock the competitors, site down like the one mention above.

    One of the farm animals may show up like Panda, Penguin Hummingbird or something else.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by DWolfe View Post

      Could California be the first testing place, before taking on Angie's List ? If this works they may roll this out in every major city and knock the competitors, site down like the one mention above.

      One of the farm animals may show up like Panda, Penguin Hummingbird or something else.
      I'm actually working on a blog post about this, so I'm not going to share everything here... lol.

      Select cities in California are part of the pilot program. It has nothing to do with taking on AngiesList, this is a partnership between HomeAdvisor and Google. If it were about competition, the competition they would want to take out is Amazon. However, it's not about competition, it's about shareholders, and maybe competition of the stock.

      Google doesn't have the capability to scale and handle the logistics of manually verifying credentials, licenses, liability insurance, and quality control of contractors on a large scale. They teamed up with HomeAdvisor, but it isn't to knock out AngiesList (an awful company as far as financials are concerned). HomeAdvisor, to be more specific, IAC the parent company is actually in talks about a possible merger with Angieslist.

      The reason this is important, is because angieslist wouldn't be an attractive merger candidate unless this partnership between HomeAdvisor and Google was limited, and unlikely to spread nationwide.

      I don't see this as something sustainable, and capable of broad scale for Google. It also isn't a sustainable proposition for HomeAdvisor, because they don't have the network of businesses PER CITY to comply with the guidelines Google has provided. What we'll see after this pilot run is that Google or homeadvisor for that matter, will drop it, entirely. For logistic purposes and profit.
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      • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
        Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

        I'm actually working on a blog post about this, so I'm not going to share everything here... lol.

        However, it's not about competition, it's about shareholders, and maybe competition of the stock.
        .
        Looking forward to the blog post, you posted out some interesting things. Like to see where this leads too. Agree with the comments about the stock and profits in your post also.
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        • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
          The problem is that this kind of service seems to presume that all plumbers (or whatever) are equivalent.

          As a consumer I wouldn't trust that each service provider would actually be willing and able to solve my problem at my location.

          And as a service provider, it would be really annoying to have the ad encourage readers to contact multiple plumbers (or whatever) for the same problem.

          Marcia Yudkin
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          Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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          • Profile picture of the author Ron Lafuddy
            Originally Posted by marciayudkin View Post

            The problem is that this kind of service seems to presume that all plumbers (or whatever) are equivalent.

            As a consumer I wouldn't trust that each service provider would actually be willing and able to solve my problem at my location.

            And as a service provider, it would be really annoying to have the ad encourage readers to contact multiple plumbers (or whatever) for the same problem.

            Marcia Yudkin
            Or all marketing consultants, for that matter.

            Still, yellow pages did this successfully for years.
            They encouraged advertisers to buy large, more
            colorful ads, as a way to stand out from all their
            competitors.

            Yellow pages provided no standard of excellence.
            No way to tell if one service was better than another.

            That responsibility was left to the consumer.

            Consumers were trained to select, from what was
            provided.

            A new business, with no customers, no experience
            no reputation, could buy an immediate advantage
            over their competitors (who had all those things)
            with larger, more appealing ads.

            Like it or not, the selection process often involves
            just picking one from the list and hoping for the best.

            If you don't believe it,. look at the divorce rate.

            Ron
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            • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
              Yellow pages provided no standard of excellence.
              No way to tell if one service was better than another.
              But Yellow Pages did allow service businesses to distinguish themselves in their description of services: which plumbers offered 24-hour service, which HVAC services did residential and which commercial, which heating oil companies offered no-contract emergency deliveries, etc. This is what is lacking in the Google offering here.

              Marcia Yudkin
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              Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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  • Profile picture of the author larrya
    Great post iAmNameLess - btw, other then pure seo related material, I don't have much time for reading these days but your blog is one of the few I make time for and I highly recommend it to others. Keep up the good work.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Grable
      Originally Posted by larrya View Post

      Great post iAmNameLess - btw, other then pure seo related material, I don't have much time for reading these days but your blog is one of the few I make time for and I highly recommend it to others. Keep up the good work.
      I absolutely agree!!!
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