With the recent free launch of Google Analytics and many Google CRM related job postings Louis Columbus speculates that Google wants in on the CRM market.
What does Google have that nobody else has? A quest for pure information and a boatload of user data. Google can partner with external sources:
Taken to an extreme, Google's search engine capability could become the basis of backfilling customer histories by integrating APIs with Hoover's, Dun & Bradstreet, Value Line Investment Surveys, Standard & Poor's and many other information services firms. Suddenly smaller competitors in services vertical markets for example would be able to level the playing field by cutting the learning curve in half when it comes to learning about prospects -- Google technology would do the work of the inside sales reps.
and look at their internal data, some of which includes:
- user search history and seasonal market shifts
- related searches
- keyword bid price history by competitor
- ad spend and traffic estimates by competitor
- which could be cross referenced with how their linkage profile, public relations, and stock prices change
- ROI on ad spend if the competitor shares that data with Google
Google will not post that company X bid amount Y and sold Z units, but they have that data and can use it to help manage your ad spend and tell you what terms are in aggregate underpriced. Since Google has the largest database of intentions many large corporations with small sites will be forced to advertise.
When your site theme, linkage profile, and AdWords keywords overlap greatly with some of your competitors it is easy for Google to tell you were else you should be advertising. They may even go so far as to tell you where your biggest problems in the conversion process are.
Google offers (or may offer) marketing, tracking, user data, pay per call, and payment services. To offer the best local search Google also wants to obtain real time inventory data from major shopping chains. How hard would it be for Google to add a few more hooks into the system to offer a proper CRM solution? Perhaps they can charge a bit more for a few extra goodies, although, unlike Louis, I think the core product will probably not be ad cluttered. Google is willing to give away a ton of value just to get data. Louis predicts:
Google is on its way to being a platform and with that goal, product proliferation will follow. In 2006 it would not be surprising at all to see three things happen pertaining to Google:
- Free CRM and Sales Force Automation gets launched.
- Google Venture Capital sightings increase.
- Friendster becomes a bargain for Google and gets acquired.
Read more about Google and CRM at CRM Buyer.
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