Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/03/08/google_buys_beat_that_quote/
Google buys UK price comparison site
BeatThatQuote.com snapped up for £37.7m. Simples
Posted in On-Prem, 8th March 2011 10:16 GMT
Google has bought UK price comparison site BeatThatQuote.com for £37.7m.
The company's managing director John Paleomylites owns 90 per cent of the online property, which was founded in 2005.
"We are confident that by combining BeatThatQuote.com's expertise in UK financial products with Google's technology, we'll accelerate innovation in this field, benefiting consumers and the companies offering these products. We plan to keep working with our current partners and look forward to working with new ones, too," he said in a statement on the firm's site.
The north London-based outfit competes with other price comparison sites such as Compare the Market and Go Compare, but is a much smaller, lesser-known company than its TV ad-heavy rivals.
In the year ended 31 January 2010, BeatThatQuote.com saw turnover of £8.5m and a loss of more than £2m. Accounts for the company's year ended 31 January 2011 were not available via Companies House.
It's understood that Google has made the relatively small acquisition to help bump up Mountain View's so far limited credit card and insurance offerings in the UK. Google runs its Comparison Ads service in the US, and clearly wants to give customers a similar offering on this side of the pond, too. ®