Google has been working hard on making search results more dynamic and trying to make Google a destination rather than just a tool. Google has release that in the US in May 2020 search terms like “How to buy a house” have reached an all time high. There was also a similar growth in associated terms like “What is API” and “What is PMI”.
We have seen Google getting more dynamic over the last 5 years, it started with questions like what is 5kg in lbs returning results and now it is getting more advanced with tools like the new mortgage process in search that was released on the 22nd July.
So what does this mean for companies who sell mortgages online using Google? Looking at the demo which we have put on our website, the mortgage tool is going to sit between the top ads placements and the organic placements. I think this is going to have a huge effect on the click through rate of top organic positions around terms like “mortgage calculator”. These sites are typically the big affiliates such as Money Saving Expert and some of the large banks.
This does reflect a common approach by Google with its attempt to remove other affiliates while at the same time becoming an affiliate itself. This can be seen in local ads released in the US over the last couple of months.
The positive effect that this might have is the accuracy of “in market” audiences around products such as mortgages might become a lot better, as interactions with the tool can (and I am sure is) being used to collect data that advertisers using the Google ads platform will be able to access.
Full link to the press release on our website: