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Written by Lynn McColley

Published: August 08 2017

Are You Ready For This?

Google Home Services are rolling out.  They hit Phoenix Locksmiths yesterday. If you have a home services company, get ready.

Google’s locksmith category has been fighting large syndicates engaged in switch and bait scams.

Legitimate locksmiths suffer and customers get scammed. Google has played whack-a-mole delisting the fake listings, but they just pop up a new site.

Now Google is Actually Verifying Businesses Are Real

Look at the new box at the top of the search results for Locksmith:

Locksmith Home Services Box
[Click to Enlarge]

This box shows three businesses, their Reviews score and a new green shield labeled Google Guaranteed.

My locksmith client says "Good news, they are all real locksmiths, not scammers."

If you click through to the "More locksmiths" listing you find a whole new page:

The Home Services List For Locksmiths
[Click to Enlarge]

In this case, the top 5 have a Google Guaranteed sticker, a review score, their city and hours, and a phone number.  That’s not the businesses phone number, it’s a tracking number so Google can track the number of calls the listing gets.

You didn’t see the “Sponsored” in the top right of the results listing?  Somebody has to pay for the process of verifying businesses and checking licensing. Google says they’ve hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to do the background checks.

Not Just Locksmiths

It’s for any home service: Plumbers, Electricians, Garage Door Repair, HVAC are all live in Phoenix. General Contractors, Handymen, Auto Glass, Painters, even House Cleaners are on the way.

Takeaways

• Start pushing your customers for reviews – they are the only thing differentiating these listings.
• Word from other test cities is that Google is watching your response times to calls, so be sure to answer the phone and get back to customers immediately.
• Be prepared for license and background checks – likely to include individual employees.
• Expect to pay to play. Google will be including ads.

Sign Up Now

Google has a signup form so you can hear about this before it reaches you.  Go here:

Google Home Service