Google UK tries click-to-call
Google UK ads were discovered with little green phones. I walk you through the experience (it works). This is a grand way to get your feet wet in the click-to-call business. You'll learn things. Like what happens to an advertiser when the phone rings off the hook ("all operators are busy"). Customer privacy concerns. Keeping it simple.
Offering Skype and GoogleTalk options should cut down operations costs, compared to ringback services; you don't pay for two long distance calls.
Click-to-call's live interaction may be one of the biggest business challenges for advertisers. The skills for running a call center are very different from mastering a shopping site. And converting customers in a conversation is different than pulling through your site's shopping cart.
For example, there's often a gap between customer and advertiser time zones and hours of operation. Scheduling a call back should improve response rates, not to mention avoid waking small business people at 2am. Letting callers choose "Please call me around 9am tomorrow" is another. Click-to-voicemail during off hours or when overloaded is another. SalesBuilder's Call Me Now is a great example of the state of the market.
Other coverage:
- Search Engine Watch Forums thread
- Search Engine Roundtable: Google Launches Click to Call in UK
- Googlified: Google UK Lauched Click-to-Call
- TechCrunch UK: Google launches click-to-call in UK
- Unofficial SEO Blog: Google Click To Call Launched In UK
- Greg Sterling: Google PPCall in UK
The walkthrough...
1. Go to Google.co.uk
2. Search for jet2
You might see search results like this. See the ads on the right?
3. Click on the ad with the phone.
4. It opens up to show a form.
Type in your phone number.
Press the "Connect for free" button.
5. The ad replaces the form with a "connecting" message.
note the reassurance of seeing your own phone number, so you know everything is going swell.
6. When you connect, the message changes again.
7. After the call, the ad reverts to its orginal state.
8. If you click on the "more>>" link, you go to the Google Click-to-Call FAQ
Google Click-to-Call FAQ
- What's the phone icon on Google search results? How does it work?
We're testing a new product that gives you a free and fast way to speak directly to the advertiser you found on a Google search results page - over the phone.
Here's how it works: When you click the phone icon, you'll be invited to enter your phone number. Once you click 'Connect For Free,' Google calls the number you provided. When you pick up, you hear ringing on the other end as Google connects you to the other party. When they answer, you simply talk normally as you would with any other call.- Who will get my phone number?
Google uses the phone number you enter just once, to make the automatic connection between you and the advertiser. Your number is blocked so that the advertiser can't see it. Google doesn't share your number with the advertiser, and we won't use the number to make any other calls to you. In addition, your information will be deleted from our servers after a period reasonably necessary to operate the service. We take your privacy very seriously. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
- Whose caller ID do I see when connected?
The advertiser's number appears on your caller ID when Google connects you. This way, you can save the merchant's number for future call-backs.
- Am I charged to connect to an advertiser?
No. Google foots the bill for all calls, both local and long-distance. However, if you give us a mobile phone number, your normal airtime fees or other fees charged by your provider for the call may apply
Google ads come and go so you may not be able to repeat this.
Comments
The last point in Google's FAQ is interesting. In the UK, a non-roaming phone normally doesn't incurr any charges on the phone's owner when the receive a call. Have Google managed to change this somehow to save them the costs of phoning a mobile, or is this FAQ entry just a remnant of the US FAQ?
Posted by: Rich | September 11, 2006 01:17 AM