Did Google Finance just get big?

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GOOGLE Finance, the investing website that has yet to make a real impact in the year since it was launched, has just gotten a major boost with an important change to Google’s main search results pages.

Now when people search the main Google site for public company names, they will see an option to preview stock information on the company from Google Finance.

Previously, finance information was mostly only included in search results when people searched for a ticker symbol. The change, which places the stock information is an expandable “PlusBox”, was announced on the Official Google Blog.

Could boost traffic to Google Finance

According to Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, Google Finance had a less than 1% share of the business and finance category in December, shortly after the site was upgraded with new features. By comparison, category giant Yahoo! Finance had over 50 times more traffic with a 37% share.

However, the change in how Google treats searches for listed company names could substantially boost traffic to Google Finance and therefore increase its importance as a source of information for investors.

Investor relations communications professionals should familiarize themselves with the information Google Finance provides about their companies, including news sources, financial fundamentals and blog posts.

Now when Google users search for companies by name, they will see a PlusBox link that expands to show Google Finance content. See below.

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The above screenshot shows the expanded view. By clicking on the stock chart or the “More information about MAT” link, users will go to the Google Finance page for the company. See below.

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IR departments should familiarize themselves with the information Google provides on their companies, including competitors and blog posts.

Extra click may slow traffic flow

While a boost in traffic to Google Finance from the main Google search pages is obvious, it’s unclear just how much more traffic we’re talking about. This is because instead of going directly to Google Finance when they click on the stock quote links, web users are given a preview without leaving the main Google search results page.

They have to click on a second link or on the stock chart to go through to the Google Finance page for the company. The extra click could cut the amount of traffic that goes through to Google Finance pages.

This differs from how Yahoo! handles searches for listed company names. It provides direct access to its Yahoo! Finance profile pages for companies via a hyperlinked ticker symbol next to the company’s name in its search results.

Direct links to Yahoo! Finance profile pages are provided via a company’s ticker symbol in Yahoo! search results. This is a more direct and conventional approach.

I’m not sure I like Google’s approach because it breaks a long-established convention on the Web — that when you click on a link, you can expect go to a new webpage.

But that doesn’t happen in this case. Instead, new content appears in the current page. Given Google’s popularity, it may be big enough to rewrite convention if it wants to. We’ll have to wait and see.

Of one thing you can be sure, though. If your stock is listed on a U.S. exchange, anyone searching for your company by name is going to have its stock price thrust in front of them much more prominently than before.

You’ve just gotten some free advertising on the world’s most popular website!

Note: I used Mattel as an example for no specific reason. It happened to be on my mind at the time. I have two youngsters who have a keen interest in the company’s goods. — Dominic Jones

Update: I should have mentioned that Google Finance is exactly one-year-old today. Here’s the official blog post that launched the service on March 21, 2006. Happy Birthday Google Finance.

Dominic Jones

Dominic (bio & disclosures) is IR Web Report‘s founder and an online investor relations consultant. He advises leading public companies and investor relations service providers worldwide on using the web for disclosure, engagement and profile building. You can contact him via the contacts page.