Google Poised to Enter U.S. Auto Insurance Market

Giant search engine Google, which already offers auto insurance online in the United Kingdom, could soon be selling auto insurance online in the United States.

Google Compare Auto Insurance Services Inc., its online auto insurance shopper, has been licensed to sell insurance in at least 26 states and is working with several insurers including Dairyland, MetLife and Mercury Insurance, Forester Research’s Ellen Carney reported in her blog this month.

Carney reports that Google has been working on the project for more than two years and could finally launch later this quarter in California, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas. According to the Forester Research technology expert, Google could be working with CoverHound, which currently offers online quotes for multiple insurers including Hartford, esurance, 21st Century, Travelers, Safeco, National General, Progressive, Foremost, Plymouth Rock and others.

Google could present formidable competition for other insurance sellers. As many as two-thirds (67 percent) of insurance customers said they would consider purchasing insurance products from organizations other than insurers, including 23 percent who would consider buying from online service providers such as Google and Amazon, according to research by Accenture.