Five of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance are Finovate Alums

Fast Company recently published a list of most innovative companies that contained multiple Finovate alumni. Here’s the breakdown:

Overall top 50 most innovative companies:

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Google
Rank: 3
FinovateFall 2011 demo

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PayPal
Rank: 43
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

Top 10* in finance category:

PayPal
Rank: 4
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

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SecondMarket
Rank: 6
FinovateStarup09 demo

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Dwolla
Rank: 8
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

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Simple (formerly BankSimple)
Rank: 9
FinovateFall 2011 demo

StockTwits
Rank: 10StockTwitsLogo4.jpg
FinovateEurope 2011 demo

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*Also included in the finance category are:

2. Starbucks
3. Kickstarter
5. Y Combinator
7. American Express

Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in September

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.
Out of 268 alumni, 80 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in September 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 33 (41%) had more visitors in September than August. Year-over-year, 42 (52%) had traffic increases.
Private Companies
  • Seeking Alpha and Cortera had the highest traffic in September with 2.1 and 2.0 million unique visitors, respectively. Cortera also had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visits with over 1.5 more visits in 2011 than in 2010.
  • Kabbage had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 280x.
  • Weemba saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 7.5 times the number of unique visitors in September compared to August.
  • SmartCredit.com had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 126,000.
PrivateWebTrafficSeptember2.jpg
Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011
 
1) The previous month recorded was August 2011
2) Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com
3) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink
4) Kasasa is powered by BancVue
Public companies
 
  • CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 7 times the number of visitors this year than last year.
  • Intuit had a notable increase in number of unique, year-over-year visitors, increasing by 300,000 visits.
  • Check Point had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 41% more visitors in September than in August.
PublicWebTrafficSeptember2.jpgSource: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.
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Notes:
1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed.
3. NM = not measurable
4. t= tie
5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.

Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in August

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete
Out of 268 alumni, 75 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in August 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 41 (55%) had more visitors in August than July. Year-over-year, 45 (60%) had traffic increases.
Private Companies
  • Seeking Alpha — the most-trafficked in August with 2.5 million unique visitors — also had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits with 300,000 more visits in August than in July.
  • Budgettracker.com saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 6.5 times the number of unique visitors in August compared to July.
  • Betterment had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 88x.
  • Cortera had the highest number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 1.5 million. 
August2011PrivateWebTraffic4.jpg
Source: Compete.com retrieved week of October 3, 2011
1) The previous month recorded was July 2011
2) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink
4) Kasasa is powered by BancVue
5) Checkingfinder.com is powered by BancVue

Public Companies

  • Fiserv had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 50% more visitors.
  • CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 5 times the number of visitors.
  • S1 also had a high percentage growth year-over-year, doubling its visitors.
August2011PublicWebTraffic5.jpg
Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 3, 2011
1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.
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Notes:
1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 
3. NM = Not measurable
4. t= Tie
5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.

mFoundry & SecondMarket Hit Deloitte’s 2011 Technology Fast 500 List

This week, Deloitte announced the North America 2011 Technology Fast 500 winners. The list encompasses* multiple industries and ranks companies based on their 4-year revenue growth percentage (2006 to 2010).
Here are the Finovate Alumni listed in order:
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SecondMarket 

Rank: 84
Headquarters: New York, NY
Founded: 2004
mfoundry.jpg
Rank: 105
Headquarters: Sausalito, CA
Founded: 2004

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Rank: 425
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Founded: 1998
To learn more about these companies, watch SecondMarket’s FinovateStartup 2009 demo, mFoundry’s FinovateFall 2010 demo, and Google’s FinovateFall 2011 demo.
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*Methodology: In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company’s operating revenues. Companies must have base-year (2006) operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD or CD, and current-year (2010) operating revenues of at least $5 million USD or CD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of five years, and be headquartered within North America.

Google Advisor Allows You to Check Mortgage and Credit Card Rates in Real Time

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This morning, Google demonstrated Google Advisor, a technology that allows you to check rates in real-time:
“With Google Advisor, you enter information about what you’re looking for in a mortgage, credit card, CD, or checking and savings account. We show you a list of the offers that match your criteria, along with rates and contact information. Google Advisor is designed especially to help you make these difficult financial decisions easily, with:
  • Speed: As you change your criteria, the results update instantly. You’ll still have a list of all your options in one place, so you can quickly compare different offers.
  • Trust: By setting your own search criteria, you’re able to see only those offers and rates that apply to you, which means you can compare applicable offers without even contacting a provider first.
  • Control: You only need to provide the minimum amount of information we need to show you offers that are right for you. You have full control over what you want to share, and which providers you choose to talk to–and you don’t have to submit any personal information until you want to.”
Product Launched: May 2011

HQ Location: Mountain View, CA 

Company Founded: January 1996 
Website: Google.com
Presenting Dan Shapiro (Product Manager for Google Advisor)

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FinovateFall 2011 Sneak Peek: Part 2

FInFallLogo.jpgMore than 60 leading fintech innovators, both startups and established companies, are gearing up to present at the biggest Finovate ever, Sept. 20/21 in NYC.

Each company provided a sneak peek of what they’ll be demoing on stage next month. Below is the second installment of these teasers (see part 1 here). We’ll have more next week. 
Don’t miss your chance to see the live demo from each company and meet the execs responsible. Get your FinovateFall ticket here
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Customers use different communication channels throughout the day and expect the same from their FI. But to reach and interact with the greatest number of customers – and deliver reward value to both institutions and their customers – banks and reward vendors alike must fully support the growing range of channels: online, mobile, social, e-mail and more, while providing requisite security and privacy for email communications featuring sensitive data. 
Cardlytics & ActivePath combine powerful technology to personalize reward offers based on transaction data that can be securely delivered and transacted directly within interactive email, enabling customers to respond at their convenience, anytime, anywhere.
Innovation type: Cards, communications, rewards


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Andera’s FortiFI product stops online new account fraud. It scans applications submitted online at over 500 institutions, discovering patterns used by fraud rings only visible on an industry-wide scale, and flags applications matching known patterns before an account is opened. 
FortiFI is available as part of Andera’s hosted account-origination solution and its Software Development Platform that gives developers “plug and play” access to the services and software components (e.g., ID verification, application risk management, funding risk management, funds transfer, etc.) used by Andera’s popular hosted online account-opening solution, reducing the time and cost to bring innovation to market.
Innovation type: identity, marketing, sales

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Online and mobile banking has created a new breed of cybercriminal. New forms of defense are needed.  
Authentify will unveil publicly for the first time, Authentify 2CHK. It is an app that will transform an end user’s mobile device into a secure transaction authenticator. The device becomes a defensive weapon in the battle against cybercrime. Authentify 2CHK is a natural extension of Authentify’s out-of-band technology and will help satisfy audit requirements for end user and transaction authentication spawned by FFIEC guidance updates.
Innovation type: Identity, payments, security

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BillGuard is the world’s first antivirus for bills. This free, Web-based solution empowers consumers with the assurance of an unheard-of level of personal finance security. The easy-to-use service has already saved consumers more than $300,000 from unwanted or unauthorized charges.  
BillGuard aims to be the “seal of approval” that merchants and financial institutions display so consumers recognize that their accounts are protected and that all posted charges are accurate. In the future, it will be imperative to display a BillGuard badge to gain customers.
Innovation type: cards, identity, security


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Gen Y embraces frugality and seeks “engagement banking” with rich, interactive online experiences around their $200 billion in income.
Bobber represents a profound shift in how Gen Y relates to their money, integrating the most effective social engagement mechanics for cost-efficient acquisition, sustained loyalty, and increased wallet share. Bobber’s cash-management tool simplifies daily spending and incentivizes goal achievement. Users engage in a highly interactive debit rewards program grounded in their personal savings goals.
Bobber’s technology is architected into the Facebook ecosystem for low-friction onboarding, social collaboration, and experiences tailored to users’ Facebook data.
Innovation type: banking products, cards, marketing, online UI

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CarryQuote IntelliCast is a private-labeled solution that allows you to securely deliver proprietary research and mul
ti-media content directly to your clients’ Apple, Android, BlackBerry, or Microsoft smartphones and tablets. 
Through CarryQuote’s unique, SaaS-based mobile technology platform, which offers compatibility across all five major mobile platforms, CarryQuote IntelliCast allows you to place a highly advanced, branded mobile application in your clients’ hands, and become their “go to” source for the latest financial research. Notably, this turnkey solution can be customized and deployed across all platforms in fewer than six weeks.
Innovation type: communications, investing, mobile and tablet UI

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Cartera Commerce is re-inventing the deal with card-linked offers. 
Cartera, the leading provider of card-linked marketing solutions, will unveil its solution that enables banks to tap the explosive growth of the local deals market popularized by daily deal sites.
For banks, issuers and loyalty programs, Cartera provides the industry’s most comprehensive card-linked offer platform powering personalized in-store and online shopping programs that build consumer engagement, maximize card spend and create new revenue streams. For merchants, Cartera powers the industry’s largest card-linked advertising network, targeting and tracking shopping offers to 150 million+ loyal consumers. 
Innovation type: cards, marketing, rewards

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CashStar, the preferred digital gifting and incentives partner for retailers and incentive partners, provides consumers with the most personal, compelling and convenient gifting experiences available. The only company to successfully combine an on-demand digital gifting and incentives platform with innovative multichannel marketing strategies, CashStar is changing the way rewards currency is exchanged from the digital world to the brick and mortar.
At FinovateFall 2011, CashStar will unveil a first-of-its-kind, location-based iPhone application that enables consumers to instantly turn credit card points into digital currency while they are in a participating retailer’s store.
Innovation type: cards, marketing, rewards

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How do you know whether to trust online profiles? Where do you turn for assurance or accountability? The ability to demonstrate financial ‘good sense’ would give you an invaluable edge to stand out and succeed in career, business and personal objectives.
At FinovateFall 2011, Credit Sesame, one of the Internet’s most trusted credit management sites — backed by global financial institutions and world-class science, technology and financial experts — will reveal how to get that “edge.”
Whether you’re applying for a new job, transacting commerce online, or interacting with someone on the Web for business or personal reasons, Credit Sesame can help.
Innovation type: identity, lending, PFM

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You’ve seen it all: savings tools, financial games, virtual banks and so on. But these products have a limited reach with your customers. DoughMain is the first and only service to combine family coordination and financial education into one simple and convenient platform.  
Achieve a new level of engagement with your adult customers who have active families. Integrate your bank and financial service products in a completely new way and upsell your offerings to a lucrative market.
Innovation type: banking products, marketing, PFM
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Samurai is the easiest and most elegant gateway on the market. It gives you ultimate flexibility at an affordable price.
With Samurai, you’ll be able to integrate payments on your site in minutes. Samurai boasts premium features such as intelligent routing, data portability, and gateway emulation. Send payments anywhere with Samurai — it’s universally compatible. Oh yeah, and that’s just a sneak peek at all that Samurai has to offer.
Innovation type: back office, payments, small business

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Google Advisor makes it fast, safe, and easy for consumers to find personal finance products. Google will be showing the latest version of Advisor and be available for conversations with potential partners who are interested in the platform.
Innovation type: banking products, online UI

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IND Group “wow” innovation is a new online and mobile banking platform that has reinvented the way a bank can communicate with its customers. The platform’s simplicity and ease of use is underpinned by natural language and data visualization — key differentiators.
Easy-to-use main features are the account and transaction visualization, wizard-type money transfers and investments, zero-effort personal finance management, online sales engine and
the support center. IND Mobile banking is more than just the extension of online banking features, unique ergonomic design, user experience, security and the fact that it is always-online.
Innovation type: mobile and tablet UI, online UI, PFM

Kony.jpg

See Kony’s mobile commercial banking solution in action. It allows the corporate treasurer and executives to approve transactions from any mobile device, including tablets. 
Each user is able to view the transaction amount, date, account involved, the approval status of other users, and a memo. This speeds the process of approving transactions as well as tracking the progress. Plus, from the development perspective, the application is updated and deployed to any mobile device, mobile Web or tablet from a single application definition.
Innovation type: banking products, mobile and tablet UI
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LearnVest believes that financial planning should not be a luxury.
LearnVest is making personal financial advice accessible and affordable to millions of Americans. The company does this by providing the content, tools and advice to help women get informed, get organized, and get support.  
LearnVest’s new My Money Center and the LearnVest Advice Center are the keys to this transformation. By helping members create everything from a personalized budget to a retirement savings plan, LearnVest empowers women to build their wealth and afford their dreams. Come learn more about the new LearnVest Method and see where the company is headed.
Innovation type: communications, PFM

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There’s a tremendous opportunity to gain share of cash and check spending by small businesses; if only business owners felt they could adequately delegate and manage the credit, debit or prepaid card spending of their employees. Now they can. 
MasterCard inControl Small Business Controller empowers small business owners to more confidently and securely delegate card spending to employees, improving expense control and helping to better manage cash flow. Small business owners can also create profiles with controls and alerts for each employee card and use virtual card numbers to shop more safely online.
Innovation type: cards, online UI, small business

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miiCard is a revolutionary digital passport. It enables users to prove their identity online to the same level of authority as a drivers license or passport would do offline. 
By creating trust in an environment characterized by anonymity and transient identities, miiCard will open up opportunities for business online and put Internet users back in control of their personal information on a global basis.
Innovation type: identity, payments, security

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Retailers are constantly looking for new ways to increase sales.
Over US$20 billion is spent on consumer promotions each year, but while promotions can be effective, they are costly and reduce margins.
Offermatic already enables any merchant today to precisely target Offermatic members based on their actual spending history. Merchants can acquire guaranteed-new customers, who are already spending in the category, on a 100% pay-for-performance basis.
At FinovateFall 2011, Offermatic will announce its latest innovation. This new model will enable merchants to run a free promotion and grow sales at no cost!
See you on September 21st.
Innovation type: marketing, rewards, coupons, small business 

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PayNearMe offers a convenient payment option to individuals who prefer to make payments in cash, as well as the more than 60 million adults who are unbanked or underbanked. 
PayNearMe will demonstrate an easy and inexpensive way for these consumers to pay their rent and auto loans with cash at their local 7-Eleven store. And with our self-service portal, merchants of any size will soon be able to take advantage of this simple payment alternative.
Innovation type: payments

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RobotDough will be presenting a new product that helps people protect their investments.
Innovation type: investing and asset management, PFM

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Wall Street Survivor is relaunching at FinovateFall 2011 with a website that finally demystifies investing. Wall Street Survivor couples a real-time stock market simulator with content t
o create missions. 
The product helps users understand financial concepts, such as creating a virtual portfolio, how to manage it, and how to find good stocks, all in a fun and rewarding way. If you want to learn how to invest better, or just want more confidence when speaking to your financial advisor or stockbroker, then the new Wall Street Survivor is for you.
Innovation type: Investing and asset management

Op Ed: Thoughts on Google Wallet

This guest post was written by Daniel Thomas, a 25-year strategy and product development veteran of the financial services industry. He is a principal consultant with Mindful Insights LLC.

image Google’s announcement two weeks ago certainly raised a few eyebrows in the mobile payments arena and took a giant leap toward putting to rest the debate about the use of NFC.

However, there’s an interesting twist that hasn’t been explored in the many articles written in the aftermath of the announcement. How will Google’s effort impact revenues from the merchant-funded rewards programs (see note 1) banks hope will increase loyalty while softening the blow of the now-certain Durbin Amendment losses?

Citibank inside google wallet

But has Google just killed banks’ dreams of grabbing a share of the online advertising pie ?

Merchants today are offering higher discounts and rebates to bankcard users because the banks, via various rewards vendors, are letting merchants in on their customers’ spending history.  That data obviously has a lot of value and the merchants compensate the banks for it in the form of commissions on purchases made by the bank’s customers after targeted offers have been presented.  On the surface, one might think that regardless of the mobile wallet used, Google’s or otherwise, so long as the payment is made from a bank-issued product, the bank will still own the spending history data and be able to trade it for a commission.

However, Google, or whoever owns the mobile wallet (but especially Google), will be able to “see” the purchases as they take place and can begin recording its own spending history data.  That, coupled with other non-mobile spend-history gleaned from browsing on the web across multiple cards per individual or household, potentially gives Google a leg up on the richness of its data (assuming Google can tie the two together, is there any doubt?).  Combine that with general browsing history and Google has a pretty good profile of each person to offer up to merchants. 

Privacy issues aside, this seems to trump bank spending history data placing Google in a much better position to bargain with merchants and ad networks. But privacy issues may well loom large over all of this once consumers and Congress put 2 and 2 together and figure out what Big Broth… er, that is, Google is up to.

Meanwhile, not everyone will have an Android phone nor a Google Wallet. Plenty of other mobile wallets will soon hit the scene, but even so it will take a long time for mobile wallets to replace plastic (amusing thought– which will go away first: plastic or the perpetual paper check?) so merchants will still want to keep banks in the equation by compensating them for allowing them to use their spending history to develop targeted offers.

So, merchants are going to need to decide: should they allow Google to make the reward offer or the banks?  Surely, they won’t compensate both for bringing in the same purchase. That leaves the decision in the hands of the consumers. Do they want to receive points and cash back from Google or from their bank? 

Undoubtedly, consumers will decide based on which one offers the greatest value for the least amount of work. Online usability has been a trademark of Google, banks not so much.

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Citibank and MasterCard are key banking partners
On its website, Google asks prospective visitors if they have a Citibank MasterCard

Citibank and MasterCard are key banking partner

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Note: For more information, see Online Banking Report: Merchant-Funded Rewards (published  Feb. 2011)

Out of the Inbox: Chase Invites Business Clients to a Free Webinar with Google

imageOn the one hand, it’s easy for a bank to get the attention of business clients and prospects. Just announce a streamlined commercial loan-app process. But since that’s unlikely to happen in the wake of the Financial Meltdown, a Webinar with Google is a pretty solid Plan B.

Chase has a winning effort here. The topic, 7 ways to sell online, is so compelling that Google is tossing in a $100 AdWords credit for attendees (see note). And it never hurts to associate with a powerful and well-regarded Internet brand.  

The email design is good with an interesting subject line, an email to ask questions, and a big green button for the call-to- action. The copy is a bit predictable, but it’s short and to-the-point and doesn’t distract. There are small quibbles regarding design-layout; perhaps, a Gmail issue; and they forgot to capitalize the W in AdWords, but those are minor glitches.    

Grade: A-

Chase email to existing business clients (6 May, 10:33 AM, Pacific)

Chase Email to Existing Business Clients announcing webinar with google

Landing page hosted by Google and co-branded with Chase (link)

Registration page hosted by Google and co-branded with Chase 

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Notes:
1. Google usually offers the $100 only to new clients, but I don’t seen any fine print limiting the bonus. I hope they don’t add a restriction after the fact, which could negate the positive energy Chase generates from the Webinar offer.
2. For more info on the space, see Online Banking Report: Micro- and Small Business Online Banking (published Oct. 2009)

Customer Service Tips: Google Verifies Contact Info via Interstitial Page

From time to time (2x per year?), Google drops an interstitial after login to verify that it has the correct email address and mobile phone number on file.

While financial institutions are far more likely to have current contact info on their online banking customers, it’s still advisable to check in annually to verify contact info, especially with the growing importance of mobile.

And while you are at it, ask customers for alternate email address(es) and phone number(s).

Google interstitial page displayed after logging in to Gmail (7 March 2011)

Google interstitial page displayed after logging in to Gmail (7 March 2011)

Prioritizing Financial Information Flow

image I’m just finishing an enjoyable novel by Cory Doctorow, Makers. It chronicles two inventors operating in the United States 15 to 20 years from now (the actual time period is not revealed) after another economic/tech downturn, similar to the 1999/2000 dotcom crash.

Readers will recognize most of the technology and information services used, e.g., email, IM, blogs and Twitter. But Doctorow’s vision for these services a decade or two into the future is quite enlightening.

One area that’s much improved over today’s practices is the use of technology to prioritize the avalanche of information bombarding users. Here’s a passage from the book:

He’d been tuning his feed watchers…for nearly a decade, and this little PR item rang all the cherries on his filters, flagging the item red and rocketing it to the top of his news playlist, making all the icons on the sides of his screen bounce with delight.

imageAll you news junkies out there, isn’t that how you want your email/RSS/Twitter/ Facebook streams to work? The most-important info pops to the top and alerts you at the same time. Google is doing great work along these lines with its Priority Mailbox introduced in August (previous post), which now works on mobile phones as well (see inset).

Opportunity for Netbankers: I’m looking forward to the time when my bank, card issuer and/or third-party aggregator does the same for my finances and alerts me to odd transactions, excessive charges, and potential savings. And more importantly, helps me take action to resolve the issue.

But it can’t be delivered in a pile of email alerts sent every day. I tune those out. Just tell me about the IMPORTANT transactions triggering the “financial alarms” and keep mum about everything else. Thanks.

Google Launches More Financial Product Comparison Pages: Savings Accounts, Checking, CDs, and Mortgages

image Today, I ran into Google’s new savings-account comparison chart for the first time (see notes 1, 2 and screenshot below, link). The search giant now offers separate pages with financial product comparisons for mortgages, credit cards, CDs, checking, and savings accounts. And the comparison matrices are at times positioned prominently on searches potentially reducing traffic to top advertisers and to organic results as well (see screenshot below).

Savings account search results
Let’s look at an example search today for “savings accounts.” The results include a blue-chip lineup of paid advertisers. Following is a list of the top 10 paid results compared to their position on the Google comparison page (note 3):

1. American Express (#1)
2. ING Direct (#7)
3. US Bank (#24, 30, 32, 33)
4. BECU (local advertiser)
5. Citibank (#19, 25, 26 )
6. Capital One (#10, 15, 31)
7. Navy Federal CU
8. TD Ameritrade
9. Zions Bank (#4, 5, 22, 23, 27)
10. Discover Bank (#2, 11)

Analysis
I still don’t understand why Google would risk antagonizing its financial advertisers by drawing traffic away from their ads and into the Google-powered comparison matrix. The company says its focus is on the user experience. So I guess they believe that long-term this approach will generate more traffic, more searches and ultimately more revenue, possibly from commissions for actual accounts generated, rather than just pay-per-click.

But in its current beta stage, there are some odd results. How would you feel if you are US Bank, bidding high enough to be number three on the search results page, but not shown until page three of the savings-account comparison page? Worse, three top-10 advertisers, BECU, Navy Federal CU, and TD Ameritrade aren’t even listed on the savings comparison page.

Which brings up a bigger question. How does Google determine which FIs are listed? The savings-product comparison indexes only 17 banks, of which five aren’t even playing the rate game at this point with rates of 0.25% or less (note 4). Furthermore, there’s not a single credit union and just one smaller bank (Bank of Internet) listed. 

I understand this is just a trial balloon from Google and that product comparisons could make it easier for users to find the best rate. But right now it’s unfair to any financial institution not in the chosen 17, and it doesn’t allow users to easily choose from criteria other than rate, monthly fee, and whether a branch is nearby.

It also looks like the system could be gamed. What’s to prevent one of these banks from launching ten, or 20 or 30 different savings accounts, all with temporary teaser rates, to soak up more space in the matrix?

Sure, Google will eventually build algorithms to prevent that, but that will take time. Meanwhile, it’s an odd transition time for the search engine and its financial advertisers. But if you rely at all on Google to deliver new customers, you better pay close attention to developments with its product-comparison pages.

Google search for “savings accounts” (12 Jan. 2011, 4:00 PM Pacific, Seattle IP address)

Google search for "savings accounts" showing new product comparison ad

Google’s “savings” comparison page

Google's "savings" comparison page

Offer details page for American Express High-Yield Savings

Offer details page for American Express High-Yield Savings

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Notes:
1. According to MyBankTracker.com, Google started running the deposit-account comparisons in late December 2010 in the U.S. market.
2. We wrote about Google’s credit card comparison matrix in November.
3. Google’s savings-account matrix listed a total of 44 results, from 17 unique banks, displayed 10 per page
4. 14 of the 44 results, almost one-third of the matrix, were accounts paying 10 basis points or less.

Google Testing U.S. Credit Card Comparison Ads

image Today, when searching Google for “credit cards,” a small Comparison ad appeared on the top of the results page, above the individual paid spots (see first screenshot below; note 1). The title was “Credit Card Offers” and clicking on it delivered me to the following URL: google.com/comparisonads/uscredit (see second screenshot).

Google had previously disclosed United Kingdom tests for credit card and mortgage comparison ads, but this is the first I’d heard of them in the United States (note 2). The comparison page had 101 credit card offers that could be searched based on certain card attributes such as “no annual fee” and/or by the user’s self-evaluation of their credit quality.

Clicking on one of the offers delivered a page that summarized the salient points, but according to the fine print at the bottom of the page, Google isn’t currently being paid for these credit card ads. However, there was a source code in the URL that delivered me to the U.S. Bank application, so Google may be banking referral fees for completed applications.

If this practice becomes widespread, card issuers will need to adjust their Google search buy and figure out how to gain better exposure on the comparison-results page. Right now, APR (interest rate) is the default sort mechanism.

1. Google search for “credit cards” brings up comparison ad (10 Nov. 10)

Google search for "credit cards" brings up comparison ad

2. Credit card comparison page includes sort and search options

credit card comparison Landing page includes sorting and search refinement options

3. The offer page provides detailed price info
Note: Clicking on the “application form” button takes users to the issuer’s site to complete the application

Google credit card comparison Offer page

3a. Fine print at bottom of the page

image

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Notes:
1. Searching from a Seattle IP address on 10 Nov. 2010 at about 5:00 PM Pacific Time via Firefox 3.6 on WinXP.
2. Apparently a few others have seen them; for example, Search Engine Journal reported on the practice in an October post (here).