Back at the end of August, exactly one post ago, I wrote of Googles pending entrance into the mortgage lead business.
Today Matt Carter at Inman News expounds on Googles 'AdveRateQuote' platform for the mortgage industry. Apparently they've partnered with pricing engines and lead generation providers to provide a better overall Search experience for the mortgage shopping consumer as well as a potentially better ROI (via higher conversion ratios) for the paying advertiser compared to a traditional AdWord campaign.
Google stomps into Zillow Mortgage Marketplace's sandbox by offering an anonymous contact system between the mortgage professional and the consumer until the consumer is ready to formally engage. ZMM is far more information intensive and polished but this is definitely a shot into their bow.
Who does this potentially pinch the most? The maligned and molested Mortgage Broker...their main value proposition was offering consumers access to choice, this same access is becoming more and more available by the day. Mortgage Brokers have been on the unprotected endangered species list for about 6 months now, and hunting season has only just begun.
There is still alot to be desired when it comes to accurate mortgage qualification under this ad based system. Its a sheer numbers play, doing little to improve the accuracy and efficacy of the mortgage qualification process. The results are gross estimates based on generalized information, which often leads to confusion on the consumers behalf. Mortgage professionals can still manipulate the data being displayed to their liking...but cleaning up the quagmire of mortgage qualification isn't Googles mission. Perpetuating greater ad spending is. To this point they're likely to create enough in new revenues to buy another small island, complete with private jet service for Sergey and Larry.
At the end of the day Google is building a bigger, badder, better funnel for comparison based products and services...like mortgages. Its a win for Google if advertisers increase their current spend and/or more playas come to the ball. Its a win because they don't have to deviate from their business model and risk alienating current users.
Reading between the lines a bit: I wonder what Google will do with the valuable mortgage data they stand to collect from the participating lenders? What happens when you cross pollinate hyper local mortgage data (yes mortgage rates and programs are very local in nature) with its real estate counterparts? Hmmmm...
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Originally posted at TheXBroker on 1/19/10
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