Google and Intuit have announced a partnership which sees the search giant integrated to the forthcoming release of QuickBooks 2007 due later this year. The idea is to make AdWords a viable marketing vehicle for both online and offline traders, augmented by GoogleMaps listings. Customers will be able to list products to Google’s search engine right out of QuickBooks records.
For those that don’t have an online presence – which Google estimates to be 50% of US businesses, Google will establish a customised landing page where companies can list products and services. It is also looking at ‘click-to-call’ for those customers who prefer to ring orders in.
What makes this interesting for me is that Google is not speaking to other accounting providers at this time. Which means no deal with Sage – for the time being.
Interesting though this is, Intuit appears to leave important gaps:
- It isn’t clear whether inventory can be automatically updated to the Google listing service.
- There is no immediate word on how Intuit will close the transaction loop by providing integration to payment and merchant services. There was vague talk but little clarity
- There are no announced plans to extend the deal to include Intuit’s 2.5 million Quicken users though some think they heard Intuit execs say those plans are in place. I didn’t. I heard a much more cautious ‘let’s see how it goes’ response. To me, that’s a missed opportunity to satisify a large section of Intuit’s community.
- There is no word on when Intuit and Google will take this service to an international audience. The US may be important, but Intuit has been sliding in foreign markets – especially the UK where web services are gaining steady traction. This partnership could be a way of revitalising QuickBooks fortunes – if they recognise there is more to life than the home market. It’s also a kick in Sage’s teeth but we’ll save that one for another day.
The hope is the new service will stimulate demand for QuickBooks and Intuit is hoping to sell 1.5 million units next year. This would be a combination of upgrades and new business. It already claims 3.7 million active users in the US.
TechCrunch is all over this – as you might expect – and the response is largely positive. I see this as a real opportunity for QuickBooks users to make greater use of the core product while benefitting from the visibility provided by Google’s advertising muscle at very low cost.
At the time of writing, I was awaiting responses to the issues I’ve raised. If Intuit get back to me, I will post an update. (0015 CET)
Technorati Tags: Google, Intuit Quick Books, SaaS, techcrunch
