Mergers and Acquistions News
Categories: Media & Information Services
March 8th 2011, 16:59PM
Google has acquired financial products website BeatThatQuote.com for £37.7 million as the search giant continues its expansion into comparison websites.
The deal signals Google's increasing move away from offering users the traditional search engine results pages (SERPs), instead offering specialised price comparison and shopping options – bespoke search content known as 'vertical' search.
For example, search for 'DVD' on Google and on the left-hand side of the screen users will be able to filter results from a vertical list of options – books, blogs, news, etc.
BeatThatQuote.com allows customers to compare prices across financial products like loans, insurance, credit cards, conveyancing and utilities providers.
John Paleomylite, the managing director of the website, said the deal was a "tremendous opportunity" to develop new platforms for personal finance in the UK.
"We are confident that by combining BeatThatQuote.com's expertise in UK financial products with Google's technology, we'll accelerate innovation in this field, benefiting consumers and the companies offering these products," he said.
According to search engine optimisation expert David Naylor, Google's move into comparison verticals is a way for it to squeeze out competition.
"At some point, your bread-and-butter SERPs for 'cheap insurance' or whatever isn't just going to throw back the big names in the industry, but Google's own products," Mr Naylor wrote on his blog.
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