Google has been on a streak lately with new releases (just in time for the holidays).

Recently they introduced comparison ads for Adwords. Think of it as “Comparison Shopping” but directly built into the ads themselves (photos and more details at the above link.)

Currently, Comparison Ads will only show to a small number of users in select U.S. states and is only available to a limited number of advertisers in the mortgage/refinance space, but this is something that as it develops would be very interesting to see where it goes.

Still in the early stage, Comparison Ads attempts to focus on improving the user experience through:

• Speed — Comparison Ads shows targeted offers in less than a second. There are no long forms for users to fill out – Users see specific offers immediately and only need to fill in additional information if they wish to further refine their results.
• Transparency — Comparison Ads only shows real products. There are no teaser rates, or bait and switch offers. Comparison Ads also standardizes the information presented to users, making it easy for them to sort and compare offers on a side by side basis.
• Privacy — Comparison Ads won’t send advertisers any user information, including anonymized phone numbers, unless the user explicitly requests more information about an advertiser’s offer.

Google says that Comparison Ads let users compare multiple, relevant offers more easily and help target your offers at a more granular level, leading to more valuable, qualified leads.

Not sure how this will play out over time but it seems worth watching.