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Google and Intuit Strike QuickBooks Deal

posted on September 13, 2006


Google sends news that they have struck a new partnership deal with Intuit, which will see Google’s products integrated with QuickBooks 2007.

According to Google…

For the first time, small businesses can use QuickBooks to market themselves online by listing their businesses on Google Maps, creating and managing advertising campaigns with Google AdWords and posting their products for sale on Google through Google Base a free product listing service. Integrated into QuickBooks 2007, available this fall, QuickBooks customers will have the ability to attract new customers using Google, the worlds leading search engine.

The deal also sees QuickBooks bundling Google Desktop Search.

I’m not sure of the terms of the deal, but this is a savvy move by both companies. Google gets to integrate their product line-up with a software that is the #1 choice of just about every new business (which includes Marketing Pilgrim LLC) – what can be better than exposing your brand to a company when it’s just getting started. In return, Intuit get’s to include “Google Inside” or some other selling point on each QuickBooks 2007 box and tout the $50 AdWords credit which comes with it.

Seems like a win-win all round. One puzzling question, why didn’t Microsoft think of this tactic with their own Money software?


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  • Keyvan

    Great post Andy. I work at Intuit and just wanted to qualify one of your statements – “The deal also sees Quicken bundling Google Desktop Search.” – The intergrated services are only in QuickBooks, not Quicken.

    Thanks,
    Keyvan

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/1685318 Andy Beal

    Thanks for spotting the mistake!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/16551084 Richard

    Hi Andy, I think the $50 AdWords credit will be meaningless unless Google creates an AdWords version customized for Quickbooks. Have you seen the Starter Edition? That certainly won’t cut it. It’s a failure for two key reasons: it opts advertisers into the content network and it only allows for the creation of a single ad.

    Most small businesses will have multiple products/services to advertise and will need different ad text and keywords for AdWords. Google needs to create a “Quickbooks Edition” which must be for search engine ads only, allow the creation of multiple ads, and provide for simple management and reporting. I’m not sure Google is either able or willing to create a version tailored for small business. If they do, however, this Intuit deal will be a success both for Google and for small business owners.

    Do you think they’ll create a new version or will they simply link from Quickbooks to AdWords?

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/1685318 Andy Beal

    My guess is it will be a voucher inside the box with a $50 promo code, and that’s it.

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