• Blog

There is no formal announcement about it yet, but “Google Concierge” is already generating a massive buzz in the online marketing world. Since Joe Goldstein spotted a new feature on Google Search when searching for “Plumber Los Gatos” and directed to a page that encourages the user to directly contact Google instead of the usual list with local ads atop, many have been speculating on what really Google was up to with this new feature.

Clicking the link to the “Call Google” suggestion takes you to a page that encourage you to either text or call Google directly to talk about your needs with “a home service expert from Google”. Accordingly, they will then provide you with a list of appropriate plumbers to ask for a quote or contract. A move that many experts say as testing the waters on the Lead Generation business.

The name Google Concierge was coined by Mike Blumenthal in his blog about the matter.

Currently, no additional information is being made available about this new feature or anything about it and that the said experiment was conducted only within California with no reported success or the opposite.

 

Possible Impact on Local Marketing

 If and when Google decides to roll out this new feature and apply it across industries, regardless of the intent, a big impact will be experienced by marketers in the local scene and it will dramatically modify the conduct of local businesses in the web landscape. It will affect the value of PPC and SEO, depending on the mechanics.

With Google “playing God” in the selection of local services and businesses through Concierge¸ it is expected that local marketing will be at their feet trying to outrun one another just to get “listed” and be “suggested” by “Google Home Service Experts”. A system whose procedures are yet to be uncovered, or not, depending on how things will turn out, or if it will really come to such point.

Whatever Google has in store for everyone and decides to include this feature in the future, local marketing and web marketing as a whole will wear a different face. But one thing is for sure, no matter how complicated or frustrating it could get, it will still be business as usual.

 

What do you think about this so-called experiment? Tell us on the comments below.