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Google Home Services

Home Services has been live in California for almost 3 years...but Google recently expanded to Philadelphia and will soon be adding it in Phoenix, Atlanta & New York. This marks a major shift in how aggressively Google intends to roll out its Home Services program across the country.
On this post I'll cover everything you need to know:

You can watch a replay of the Google Home Services training video here:

Key Links & Resources:

• Get your company added to the Google Home Services Waiting List - https://www.google.com/adwords/express/home-service-ads/contact/
• How to get started with Home Services - https://support.google.com/adwords/express/answer/6224841?hl=en&ref_topic=6224863
• How the Background Check Process Works - https://support.google.com/adwords/express/answer/6226575?hl=en&ref_topic=6224863
• How Google Home Services Charges - https://support.google.com/adwords/express/answer/7195435?hl=en&ref_topic=6224863

What is Google Home Services?

Google Home Services is a new service being offered by Google in certain markets that completely changes the way the Search Results Appear for keywords like affecting Plumbing & HVAC Contractors. As depicted in the image above..."Google Home Service Ads" show up above the Google AdWords Listings (Pay-Per-Click) as well as the Map & Organic Listings.
When you look at the listings in Home Services you notice a phone number (tracked by Google not the companies main number), # of reviews (from Google My Business for now) and "Google Guaranteed".

 
 
 
The search / consumer has the opportunity to go click on a listing and get additional details. Once they do that they are presented with a variety of companies available on Google Home Services and get additional information as it relates to reviews, details, etc:

 

Where Google Home Services Is Active

• California
  • • San Francisco (For almost 3 years)
    • San Diego
    • Los Angeles
    • San Jose
    • Anaheim & others…
• Pennsylvania
  • • Philadelphia
• Comping soon…
  • • Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, New Jersey & more

Why would Google Do this?

So why would Google do this? They've got their search engine, they're providing good results, why would Google even want to get involved in this process? I believe it's about tapping into the $174 billion dollar home service industry. Starting with plumbing, HVAC & locksmiths....but I think they're thinking this can apply to just about all of the home services. They want to capitalize on some of the revenue that Angie's Lis, Home Advisor and even Amazon Home Services are starting to generate. That's why they're doing it. They also see that they can get a, a much larger dollar per lead as opposed just per-click. Now they can get paid for every time a lead is actually generated, I believe there may be some future potential ideas that Google has in mind outside of just charging per lead that they can really help them tap into this huge market.

How does the roll out of Google Home Service Ads impact the Search Results page?

It used to just because paid ads along the top and along the sides, then our Google map listings and then organic listing. Then Google scrapped the paid ads on the side and they just did paid ads on the top.
Now the first two things you will see are "Home Service Ads" followed by "Google AdWords"...their two paid offerings above the free / organic listings. These paid options are even more dominant when you search from a mobile devise.

How does Google Home Services Work advertisers / contractors?

• You have to be invited & entered into the early waiting list
• Google will run a background check on you & your employees
  • License Check, Background via Pinkerton Consulting, Insurance, etc
  • If your business is invited to participate in the Home Service ads pilot, every employee, independent contractor, temporary worker, contingent worker, vendor, or other worker who will visit a customer’s location must complete a background check.
• Once approved & if active in your area you will pay on a per-lead basis
  • We’ve seen between $25-$45 per lead but expect those prices to shift over time
  • Calls & web forms are charged equally

How are you charged for Google Home Service Ads?

• You set a weekly budget that limits the total number of leads you receive in any given week.
  • E.G. $2,000 per month / $500 per week / $71 per day
Cost per Lead = $35
57 leads per month / 14 leads per week / 2 per day
Once the weekly budget is spent…you go offline
• You may get a different number of leads from day to day, but you never spend more than your designated weekly budget.
• You have the ability to immediately dispute leads if you receive a lead that’s not valid.

How does the ranking process work on Google Home Services?

If there are only three companies that are showing up on the first page of Google in the Home Services section and there hundreds of plumbing companies in each market that want to show up probably...how's the ranking process going to work? We don't know for sure but from what we can tell it appears to be based on 3 factors:

• Budget - You drop out once your budget it spent and someone else moves up
• Proximity - How close are you to the area of the searcher
• Reviews - How many reviews do you have compared to your competition

As you can see from the screenshot above...the companies that were on the first page within the 3 pack have the most reviews...

How do you get started with Google Home Services?

It's by invitation only in the markets where Google has Home Service Ads available. You can get yourself added to the early waiting list by going to https://www.google.com/adwords/express/home-service-ads/contact/

You can download the slides from the presentation here:

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