Search giant Google has moved into the crowded UK price comparison market, trialling a service that lets people evaluate credit cards.
The firm began testing its AdWords Comparison Ads towards the end of last year with mortgage related queries in the US. This week it moved to the UK and credit cards.
In a blog, Google's Dan Friedman says "some major issuers" have signed up to the trial run, which lets users compare cards based on various factors, including intro balance transfer rates, typical APR and reward type.
"Comparison Ads improves the ad experience on Google by letting users specify exactly what they're looking for and helping them quickly compare relevant offers side by side," says Friedman.
Rival comparison outfit Confused.com has moved quickly to rubbish the new service, calling it "poorly considered".
Matt Hunter, head, money products, says: "This new offering lacks many of the features that have made Google's search engine a great success. Gone is the impartiality of results, with only sponsored results shown. Gone is the ability to explore the detail, with only superficial product details shown. All in all, this system is years behind the service offered by the UK's price comparison websites."