Price Comparison Websites Under Pressure

“Price comparison websites have a lot of pressure on all fronts at the moment and they will have to change or die” – James Daley, director at consumer campaign group, Fairer Finance.

According to The Telegraph, UK’s biggest price comparison site, GoCompare, is working on plans to introduce auto-switching, in which “customers will be automatically moved onto cheaper tariffs by sophisticated computers, meaning they will no longer face the hassle of physically hunting for deals.” Let that sink in.

Speaking of switching, thinking of Zoopla-backed uSwitch – a London-based price comparison service for utilities, insurance and financial services. Same uSwitch that in 2011 acquired Top10.com, a broadband and mobile phone comparison website founded by Tom Leathes: “Without any external funding and starting with a team of three, we grew to a million users a month, $16M in annual revenues and an amazing team of 28 people. We delivered innovative technology solutions (such as StreetStats) and simple tools to compare and buy the best mobile and broadband deals on the market.”

Btw, Leathes is now working on a new startup called Motorway – a comparison site for selling cars. Look: