Google denies UK website is same as its US service
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Google has downplayed the launch of its UK mortgage comparison website and says it is not comparable to the service it launched in the US earlier this year.
Mortgage Strategy revealed last week that the online giant has launched Compare UK Mortgages, which appears at the top of the site when the word mortgage is searched for.
In May Google launched online comparison site Google Advisor in the US, which has a mortgage comparison element.
The UK site is branded Compare UK Mortgages, but Google says it is a comparison service that only features advertisers.
A Google spokesman says: “We launched Google Comparisons Ads for mortgages last month. This is not the same as Google Advisor, which is being tested in the US and is not available in the UK. We have nothing new to announce at this stage.”
Compare UK Mortgages features sponsored links from a number of lenders such as Woolwich, ING Direct, Lloyds TSB, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Christian Bohlke, marketing director at ING Direct, says: “Google is well placed to offer a comparison website to the 10% of the population confident enough to source their mortgage directly.
“We are happy to have early involvement but our focus this year is developing partnerships with leading broker networks as the majority of people want the advice they offer.”
Google has made clear its intention to build a presence in the UK comparison market and in March this year paid almost £40m for BeatThatQuote.com.
James Cotton, mortgage specialist at London & Country, says Google prides itself on offering the most useful and relevant links at the top of searches, but its mortgage site only offers deals from a few lenders.
He says: “The range of lenders is limited and only has the direct phone numbers, so it’s not a great representation of what is available in the mortgage market.”
Mark Lofthouse, chief executive officer of Mortgage Brain, says: “While Google may provide more information upfront, it will not be able to compete against the expertise of brokers.”
Justin Rees, director of marketing and partnerships at LeadPoint UK, says: “It will be interesting to see how direct marketers that spend millions each year generating financial services leads through Google react to this development.”
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