We have a client that was using HomeAdvisor and CraftJack. Both of these are owned by Angie's List (now Angi). The deal our client had was that they would get leads from both companies. That is where things got interesting for our client and we're going to tell the story from what they've told us. This aligned with what we had heard from other service-based companies that we felt we need to educate service-based businesses as a good portion of our work comes from them.
The Story
Our client was paying for each individual lead from HomeAdvisor and CraftJack. They received a lead, were charged, and called the prospective customer. While on the call with the prospect they received another lead. This time the lead came from CraftJack. It was the person they were currently on the phone with. They were charged for this lead as well.
They called CraftJack and were able to get that one removed but got them thinking about what they were promised by both companies and what had just happened. A few weeks went along, and the exact same thing happened again.
The Promise
Being that both companies, HomeAdvisor and CraftJack, are owned by Angi the deal was basically the same for each company. This was:
- No more than three companies would receive the information for the prospect.
- They would be charged for each lead that came to them whether they won the lead or not.
That seems pretty straight forward and sounds like an acceptable deal to have a potential to win a new customer. After the two incidents they contacted both companies, HomeAdvisor and CraftJack. After talking with the representatives on the phone what they found out was true. They only provide three leads within their company (e.g., HomeAdvisor would only give up to three of their customers and CraftJack would only give up to three of their customers). This is all based on the service area that the company is paying for.
The problem came in when both representatives stated this one simple item:
- HomeAdvisor can sell or give the lead to any other of the Angi companies.
This means if HomeAdvisor gets a lead, they will give it to up to three of their customers within the service area that is paying for leads. HomeAdvisor then can provide that lead to any of the other Angi companies, in this case CraftJack. CraftJack can, and does, the same thing. This means the one lead went to a minimum of six businesses (five if you count our client getting the lead twice).
The Problem
Now imagine that our client wouldn't have received these two lead notifications. They never would've known this was happening and what they thought was happening, bidding against three companies was actually bidding against 6 or more companies.
Companies operated by Angie's List (now Angi) / HomeAdvisor
Although Angi (formerly Angie's List) is the parent company the "real" parent company is HomeAdvisor. The reason for using Angi is due to the Angie's List name being seen more positively in the home improvement industry.
- Angi - Started 1995
- CraftJack - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- Fixd Repair
- Handy - Started 2012 as Handybook, Acquired by Angi/HomeAdvisor in October 2018
- HomeAdvisor - Formerly ServiceMaster, Started in 1998, Rebranded to HomeAdvisor in October 2012
- In 2004, InterActive Corp (NASDAQ: IAC) acquired the website for an undisclosed price.
- In January 2008, IAC appointed Craig Smith as CEO of ServiceMagic Inc. He was the Senior Vice President of the company’s Consumer Division. Co-founders Rodney Rice and Michael Beaudoin became co-chairmen and advisors. ServiceMagic remained part of the parent company when IAC split into five publicly traded companies.
- In October 2008, ServiceMagic acquired the French business 123Devis.com and Travaux.com, as well as UK business 123GetAQuote.co.uk to create ServiceMagic Europe. In March 2009, the UK business was rebranded as ServiceMagic.co.uk.
- In April 2011, Chris Terrill was hired as Chief Executive Officer. In October 2012, ServiceMagic rebranded as HomeAdvisor.
- After rebranding, then-CEO Chris Terrill told StreetFight Magazine, “We’re the only network for this type of on-demand service.”
- In 2013, HomeAdvisor acquired Werkspot.nl, the leading Dutch home improvement platform.
- By 2015, HomeAdvisor had achieved more than $300 million in annual revenue, been used by more than 30 million homeowners, had nearly 100,000 pre-screened service professionals in its network and almost 3 million verified reviews.
- In 2016, HomeAdvisor acquired the German home services company, MyHammer.
- In 2017, HomeAdvisor acquired Canada’s leading home services platform, HomeStars, and MyBuilder, the UK's leading home services platform connecting homeowners and tradesmen.
- On May 1, 2017, HomeAdvisor parent company IAC announced they entered into a definitive agreement to combine IAC’s HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List into a new publicly traded company, to be called ANGI Homeservices.
- On October 2, 2017, HomeAdvisor merged with Angie’s List to form ANGI Homeservices (NASDAQ: ANGI), the world’s largest digital marketplace for home services.
- HomeStars- Canadian Review Publishing
- ImproveNet - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- Instapro - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- mHelpDesk - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- MyBuilder - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- MyHammer - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- Travaux - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
- Werkspot - Formed 2017 by the merger of HomeAdvisor and Angie's List
What Did Our Client Do?
This is where it gets interesting. They already, for the past year, have been unhappy with the quality of the leads. Having spent $3-5k per month they wanted to know what they could do to improve their results. We have come up with a plan to eliminate their dependency on the Angi solutions they offer as we have helped others eliminate their need for HomeAdvisor. Our plan of attack was this:
- Make certain to not renew any contracts, find when they were allowed to cancel, and if there were any hidden buyouts to cancel services. We did this just to make certain that everything was clearing defined.
- We set a lead CAP for each month, lowering the average amount spent each month.
- We took that money and put it toward a targeted ad campaign on social media, Facebook. This is where the majority of their customers are.
- We took the remaining of money and put it toward an ad campaign on Google targeting the exact same keyword phrases that HomeAdvisor is using.
- We created multiple campaigns on social media and Google.
- We made dedicated landing pages for each campaign and utilized UTM codes to facilitate proper analytical reporting.
The Ultimate Goal
With this campaign in process, we will have a follow-up on the end result. For now, the goal is to each month lower HomeAdvisor and CraftJack until the amount for each is zero ($0) while getting the same number, or more, leads through the new ad channels the client has completed control over. At that time both services will be canceled.
Conclusion
HomeAdvisor and CraftJack were not always owned by Angie's List (now Angi). It appears that based on what each representative from each company has said that practice started once Angi purchased the two companies. As you find out that a company has been bought out it may be prudent to look into items where the companies share leads and other information about your business. For our client, they had never heard of CraftJack until they got a random sales phone call at which time they signed up. Many businesses are only looking out for their best interest and not your businesses.
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