All contractors and home services know about Angies List and how they have enabled customers to connect with their paying contractors right on their website. Well Google has recently launched a similar concept – but easier. Currently in San Francisco, Google has launched a beta-test of their Home Services Ads. Here’s how they work:

First – A customer searches Google for a home service (such as a painter, pest control service, maid service, HVAC service,etc..). In this screen shot below, they are searching for “House cleaners in San Jose”.  At the top of the page, Google displays the maid services in the San Jose area that have been pre-qualified and approved by Google to appear in the Home Services Ads.

When this person searched for “House Cleaners in San Jose”, three “Home Services” Ads appeared at the top of Page One.

Google’s objective is to put ads from trustworthy local handymen, house cleaners, locksmiths, plumbers and other local services in front of people who are looking to find these services and book them quickly. By putting these listings at the top of the page, Google hopes to not only make it extremely easy to contact these businesses, but also hopes the Home Services Ads will become a sort of “badge of trust” for consumers and home owners. (Reading between the lines – put Angie’s List out of business.)

When this person clicks on “Sweety’s Dream Clean”, the next thing they will see is a profile page of Sweety’s including the Google reviews and other trust building information:

There are two panels – one for the contact information and one for the reviews. (If you aren’t actively asking your customers for Google reviews, please implement a review strategy soon.)

In the upper right is a “Send Request” button. when you click this, a new window appears that allows you to enter you contact information to request a call or email from the business owner.

This information goes to the business owner via email and text. The consumer can also easily send this information to several businesses with a couple of clicks.

The consumer then gets a message confirming the request has been sent:

This is the confirmation that your information has been sent to the local businesses you selected.

And the local business owner gets a text on their cell phone letting them know a new lead has just been submitted via Google’s Home Services Ads:

Get your red hot leads right in your phone.

This should be a huge help to local businesses that want to get more leads from Google.  They have certainly made it easier for consumers to get in touch with you.

At the moment, we’re not sure how the pricing for the service works, or how a business becomes a “qualified” Home Service. As they launch this new service in other areas, we’ll post more information.

We hope this helps!

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