No So Fast, Amazon: Google May Offer Its Own Home Repair Search Service, Too!

Yahoo Makers
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(Photo: Thinkstock)

If Amazon and Google have their way, America’s Do it Yourselfers will be doing a lot less themselves — at least when it comes to home repair projects.

Just days after Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Home Services — which allows users to buy local handymen/women to help with their home improvement and repair projects — Google appears ready to launch its own competing service.

According to BuzzFeed, Google plans to announce a new feature where Google users can enlist the services of local home professionals, such as plumbers and electricians.

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Unlike Google’s current search function — where we type what we’re looking for, get a list of links, and then make contact with the service providers ourselves — the new service reportedly would connect Google users directly with the service providers. But, BuzzFeed reports, it’s unclear how Google would arrange those transactions. 

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(Photo: Thinkstock)

Google’s expected to announce the new service this spring, BuzzFeed reports.

Over at Amazon, the feeling must be, “it was good while it lasted.” The company got a week of press over its “revolutionary” Amazon Home Service, which is now up and running in 30 U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Denver.

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Amazon says its new service offers a host of professionals — each of whom the company hand-picked and vetted — who can help you install a dishwasher, clean your house, assemble your backyard grill and even teach you how to sing. Amazon is backing up their work with what they call a Happiness Guarantee, where the company promises to fix any unsatisfactory work or give you your money back.

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Is this good or bad news for DIYers (Photo: Thinkstock)

So what does Google and Amazon’s battle mean for us DIYers? Will the ease with which we can enlist a professional make us too lazy to do anything for ourselves at home? Or will we be more inspired to tackle home improvement and repair projects, knowing that if all else fails instant backup is just a click away?

Google and Amazon appear determined to that we find out the answer. In the future, the  only home improvement tool you’ll need is an Internet connection.

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