Google once again has released a new product in hopes of improving overall user experience while using the search engine. Comparison Ads are designed to allow users to view more relevant offers more easily. How do they accomplish this? They simply qualify the search by asking a question.

Currently the comparison ad model is only available in the mortgage industry and only within a few states.  If a search is done for “mortgage,” which is a rather broad term, Google may ask the user if they want to “Buy a Home” or “Refinance”.  Once this has been determined, Google will take the user to a detailed sponsored results page, where they can directly choose offers or narrow down the results by providing additional information such as income and home value.

This granular targeting will benefit both users and advertisers by targeting the correct match. It’s almost like Google Search meets eHarmony, using basic questions to match the advertiser to the consumer.

Once the user finds the offer that meets their needs, they can call the advertiser or request a quote. If they request a quote, Google will automatically anonymize their phone number and send the advertiser a unique code that they  can use to contact the user. You only pay if a user calls the phone number on your offer or fills out a form to request a quote.

This may hurt any lead generation companies that use “teaser rates” to get you to fill out a form, but overall it will make the user experience much better.

To find out more, click here:

Google’s Blog Post -
http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-adwords-comparison-ads.html

Google Comparison –
https://www.google.com/comparisonads/mortgages#ti=0