Google Encroaches on Lead Gen Firms

Google gets into the lead gen business through Adwords.

Google has launched a fresh Google Adwords offering that directly competes with mortgage lead generation firms such as Lending Tree.

The fresh offering, dubbed Comparison Ads, allows Google visitors to compare offers from various mortgage providers. They can then fill out a quote lead form or call the mortgage firm directly using a specially encoded phone number. Google charges the mortgage firms each time someone submits the lead form or calls.

This puts traditional lead gen firms such as Lending Tree and Quinstreet in a tough spot. They depend on Google for both organic and paid traffic. Now Google is competing with them.

So far it’s just a test and only for the mortgage industry. But I expect Google to quickly expand this to other verticals.

On the positive side, it’s possible that Google would integrate this type of ad into a domain parking page, which could result in higher payouts.