{"id":20999,"date":"2017-07-27T18:25:45","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T22:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=20999"},"modified":"2017-07-27T20:09:58","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T00:09:58","slug":"how-google-home-services-can-affect-you-by-dave-squires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/27\/how-google-home-services-can-affect-you-by-dave-squires\/","title":{"rendered":"How Google Home Services can Affect You – by Dave Squires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Google is obviously expanding their Home Services Ads program. It has now moved east to Philadelphia and is also covering more verticals. In addition to the original plumbers and locksmiths it is expanding to the HVAC, electricians, garage door, roadside assistance, auto glass, painting, handyman, home cleaning and even appliance repair categories.<\/p>\n

Dave Squires<\/a>, a long time local SEO, shared his article detailing Google Home Services program<\/a> that he wrote specifically for those in the HVAC industry and I thought it was very much worth sharing with my broader audience.<\/p>\n

Dave is the President of\u00a0Online-Access<\/a>, a subscription based company that works with HVAC & Plumbing Contractors throughout North America showing them how to utilize the web as more than an electronic refrigerator magnet. Prior to that he helped run Vincent’s Heating & Plumbing <\/a>(VHP), his family HVAC business that has served the Port Huron area since 1959. He is still an owner but is not active in day to day affairs. He has over 38 years experience in the HVAC industry and over 17 years in the HVAC internet marketing space.<\/p>\n

I rarely have guest writers but Dave knows of where he speaks and can help us all better understand some the nuances of Google’s HSA program.<\/p>\n

Obviously these are his opinions and it may or may not apply to you but I thought it was a great summary of where the program is at so I am republishing here.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

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Just when you thought you had Local Search figured out\u2014Google brings out a new game board<\/h1>\n
By: Dave Squires, July 25, 2017<\/div>\n
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Brace yourself\u2014 Google is in the process of \u201cchanging the game board\u201d <\/em> again when it comes to generating leads through local search. For almost three years in the bay area of San Francisco, Google had been experimenting testing different approaches to directly compete against HomeAdvisor and Angie\u2019s List, and getting into the \u2018lead-selling\u2019 business. Unlike AdWords, where you are just buying ad space and the transaction is directly between you and the consumer, Google\u2019s new Home Services division wants to be the new \u2018broker\u2019<\/em> and \u2018quality police\u2019 <\/em> of the entire transaction. In other words, like HomeAdvisor and Angie\u2019s List, they want to become the gatekeeper between you and new customers. The scary news is that they will probably be very successful in doing it\u2014especially with how they have structured their new program.<\/p>\n

Currently, Google is in the process of rolling out their new program in seven major cities around the country.The cities are Phoenix, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, Baltimore, and Los Angeles.For your consideration, in this article I will go over how their new program works, what has changed that may have caused them to initiate the rollout now, and my analysis of the potential long – term repercussions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Welcome to Google Home Services\u2014 and the\u2018 Google Guaranteed\u2019 program <\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
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After watching Google over the last few years try to make its Home Services platform work (which is a good amount of time for Google to test anything)<\/em>, I was surprised when I learned a little over a month ago that it was breaking out of California and expanding to new cities around the country. What I wanted to know was, what had they changed in the program that made them decide their program was a winner?<\/em> It may be because they want to beat the new HomeAdvisor merger with Angie\u2019s List that will culminate in December, but I was curious as to what the final version looked like.<\/p>\n

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Finding the answer to that question has been surprisingly difficult, since Google has kept a tight lid on what they are doing. Obtaining preliminary information on their new program has taken a good amount of time and effort to say the least\u2014but here\u2019s how the program is being rolled out today.<\/p>\n

To start with, notice the image to the right that shows the results for the search \u201cAC repair San Francisco<\/a>\u201d. If you want to try this search on your computer, make sure you\u2019re logged out of Google or you won\u2019t see the same results (Google\u2019s version of \u201cmove along\u2026 these aren\u2019t the droids you\u2019re looking for)<\/em>. At the top of the page, under the heading \u201cAC repair \u2013 HVAC pros serving San Francisco<\/strong>\u201d you see three boxes, with each box listing a contractor, their Google review count, and then the fact that they are \u201cGoogle guaranteed<\/strong>\u201d\u2014which I also highlighted in yellow. Below this is a phone number and the hours when they will be open if they are not currently open.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s important to note that the phone number they show is not the contractor\u2019s number, but a recorded tracking number assigned to them by Google. Should the number be used by a consumer, the number displayed will change in the listing, and the number the consumer used to call you will remain active for that consumer for the next 15 days. The consumer\u2019s call will display to you as a Google-forwarded number\u2014not the consumer\u2019s actual number. As long as you\u2019ve spoken to the customer in the past 15 days, you can continue to stay in touch using the Google-forwarded number. The unspoken part here is, should you ask the customer for their direct number to try to circumvent Google recording your communication, you may find yourself out of their program\u2026 oh, and did I already mention that Google wants to be the gatekeeper of the transaction?<\/p>\n

The good news (if you want to see it as that)<\/em> is that Google only keeps total control of the customer\u2019s contact information for 15 days from the last contact.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t spoken to that customer in the past 15 days, the consumer\u2019s forwarding number will be deactivated, and their real number will display in your Home Service app dashboard. This way, you\u2019ll be able to retain their real contact information beyond the initial call.<\/p>\n

When the consumer clicks on one of the contractors in the Google Home Service results, the next screen that appears (shown at right)<\/em> provides additional information on their chosen contractor, as well as a list of all the other participating contractors in the program. It also presents the customer with a \u201cSEND REQUEST\u201d<\/strong> button where the consumer can send a service request to their chosen contractor\u2014as well as other contractors on the list, all at the same time. Just like HomeAdvisor and Angie\u2019s List, Google realized that, unlike its AdWords program, the only thing better than selling a lead once, was getting to sell the same lead multiple times to different contractors.<\/p>\n

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Currently, in the market I am familiar with, the cost of a lead is based on a flat fee of about $25 dollars per lead. Before you get too excited about that price, be aware that you will be potentially competing with other contractors for the same lead. If a customer chooses three of you, and you all have an equal success rate, the cost per sold lead is now $75. However, I suspect that the current rate is more of an<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

introductory rate, since Google was built on maximizing revenue with all their products. Once the program is established and demand for the program increases, I fully expect it to evolve into a bid system similar to AdWords.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, Google Home Services had been operating for almost three years in the San Francisco bay area and then, just recently, in Los Angeles. During this time, they have changed how the program was presented quite a bit in order to test different approaches to making the program work. With all the changes being made, the assumption was that the program wasn\u2019t performing like they wanted. However, about 3-4 months ago, they came out with a new program called \u2018Google Guarantee<\/strong>\u2019. Maybe it\u2019s just coincidental, but within two months of releasing this new program, Google\u2019s Home Services program expanded to major cities all over the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So, what is the \u2018Google Guarantee\u2019?<\/strong><\/div>\n
At the top of the list of contractors that clicking on a Google Home Service ad brings up, you find the following sentence.<\/div>\n
\"\"\u201cGoogle guaranteed – Pros are pre-screened and insured. You’re guaranteed to get the job done right or your money back. Learn more<\/a>\u201d<\/div>\n
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When the consumer clicks on \u201cLearn more\u201d, Google explains their guarantee this way; \u201cIf you\u2019re not satisfied with the work quality, we\u2019ll cover claims up to the job invoice amount, with a lifetime cap of $2,000. Your job must be booked through Home Services. Add-on or future projects, damages to property, dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness, and cancellations aren\u2019t covered.\u201d<\/em> So, if you don\u2019t already have a money-back quality guarantee on the quality of your service\u2014you will have one through Google if you participate in their program.<\/p>\n

To cash-in on the Google guarantee, customers have 30 days after the job is done to file a claim if they are unsatisfied with the quality of the work performed. As far as exclusions to the guarantee, Google states, \u201cadd-on or future projects; damages to property; dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness; and cancellations are not covered.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Getting Involved with Google Home Services<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Like AdWords, you pay only for leads from customers who click on your listing, and your listing will only show up when you have money left in your weekly budget. Unlike AdWords, which is strictly a \u2018pay-to-play\u2019 marketing transaction that anyone can participate with, Google now has some exposure in the actual work performed due to their guarantee. Because of this, participation in the program is by invitation only and is based on your online reputation (reviews)<\/em> and passing a background check. Since Google likes to stay internal for its data as much as possible (they definitely have real trust issues)<\/em>, the assumption is that your reputation is being measured heavily by your actual Google reviews.<\/p>\n

However, a Google representative revealed to us something that is important to note: once in the program, the reviews and star rankings that they will show clients are specific to Google Home Services, and different from your regular Google reviews. They are generated within their app\/platform and stay with the platform, meaning you lose them should you leave the program.<\/p>\n

Below is how Google now screens the contractors they are choosing:<\/p>\n

Getting Involved with Google Home Services<\/b><\/p>\n

Background checks<\/b><\/p>\n

All guaranteed pros undergo background checks by Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, Inc.<\/a>, a third-party risk management and security company.<\/p>\n

Background checks include inquiries about the validity of each pro’s Social Security number and criminal history (including cross-checks against national sex offender, terrorist, and sanctions registries). In addition, each pro\u2018s company is checked for applicable trade licenses, Insurance, and civil litigation history (including judgments & liens from federal and state courts).<\/p>\n

You can read more about the requirements here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

License checks<\/b><\/p>\n

Each contractor’s business is checked for the following licenses:<\/p>\n