September 13 2006

Google and Intuit: fresh meat to the advertising-directory grinder

Intuit - purveyors of "Quicken" financial software have cosied up to Microsoft - oops, I mean Google - with an integration announcement, tying the Quicken software to Google's services. Service small businesses - or ensnaring them?

Google has announced it's newly-"forged" alliance with Intuit and integration with their Quicken software. I'm not sure whether "forged" alliances are more durable than "cast" or "molded" ones, but I look forward to any enlightenment that metallurgists, pedants and MBA graduates can shed upon this...

Why should we retailers care? A number of reasons. Firstly, it increases the 'noise to signal' ratio as evermore of the late-adopting SME tail starts bolstering Google profits by competing to be on page 837 of Google's search results. Secondly, it heralds an era of ever-tighter software integration with Google. Thirdly, marketing managers will be wondering why internet systems are so intractable when hubby/wife's small business is wheeling and dealing online via Google in real, responsive time, linked directly to inventory, business rules and simple management interfaces.

The interesting angle for your Editor however is the way that Google is entering the listings/directory market and the "local" fashion. The alliance allows smaller businesses to link stock availability with location:

Product-based businesses will now have the ability to turn local shoppers into their customers with the new QuickBooks Product Listing Service, which will be in Beta at time of the QuickBooks 2007 launch. Small businesses can let online shoppers know they carry a specific product by using this service to make their merchandise searchable on Google through Google Base. Powered by technology from StepUp Commerce, Inc., recently acquired by Intuit, this feature enables users to automatically transfer inventory information to Google Base and attract local buyers to their shops.