Well, the word is out: Google Compare is shutting downoperations by the end of March.

Begun in 2011 as a full financial services platform for banking,investing and credit transactions, Google announced the addition of insurance quoting in mid-2015. Now,not even a year into it, the search giant is shutting it alldown.

So, what went wrong? Google seemed to hold several core beliefs,commonly held by "outsiders," about our business that were simplyincorrect. In a nutshell, Google appeared to believe that theinsurance business is not competitive; all personal lines autoinsurance is a commodity; and its own business and platform successcan be imposed on — and replicated in — any sector.

Google seemed to think that they need only announce theirinterest to operate in the business of insurance, and carriers andconsumers would come flocking. In announcing the wind-down, theirrepresentative acknowledged that the current operations had not metexpectations. That is PR spin for "we failed."

Everyone forgets that while most carriers do not have orparticipate in carrier-controlled comparative raters, almost allindependent insurance agencies and broker firms do, and they usethese services regularly. The insurance agencies that are movingforward into this next invention of our business are tech-savvy,know and meet their prospects and customers with e-skills andtools.

Google's spokesperson also observed that the insurance businessis more complex than most people would assume. Google forgot thattheir success, also the basis for their business experience andexpertise, is in mercantile. That is, apoint-click-to-shopping-cart-checkout kind of business, where eachtransaction is really done once completed.

There is a common pattern to personal lines auto insurance inthe nature of risk being insured, coverage types offered and thepolicyholder obligations that are transferred to us through thepolicy, and creating a customer relationship. However, neverunderestimate the high percentage of exceptions this industry makesevery day across thousands of transactions, because it is necessaryfor those policyholders. Independent insurance agencies candemonstrate that fundamental rule. Ignoring the details and manydifferences in this business, even in personal lines auto, iscruising for an Errors and Omissions bruising.

Some say Google is just shutting down to retool and be better.However, that's not clear. Google just learned a very expensivelesson: This is a very competitive industry. Google didn'tseem to know that, or how to compete. The trade purpose andcustomary operations of insurance are entirely different than thatof mercantile.

This also has important lessons and reminders for insurancepeople: This business is highly competitive, highly detailed,exceptions-oriented, and legal-obligations heavy. Also, neverunderestimate the importance and power of local agencies servinglocal people, even as millennials grow into their adult place inour insurance economy. Overlooking these fundamentals can spelldisaster.

Insurers and Main Street independent insurance agencies andbroker firms recognize, accept and are finding their way throughthe upgrades to new technologies and how best to deploy them forthe success of their businesses.

Google discovered what independent insurance agents have alwaysknown: When it comes to insurance, customers appreciate that it isa complex transaction that requires professional advice.

There may be a temptation on the part of some independentinsurance agents to conclude that Google's decision to pull theplug on Google Compare means that local agents have "won thebattle." In reality, agents have merely won a skirmish. Morecompetitors are out there.

Patricia A. Borowski is senior vice president of theAlexandria, Va.-based National Association of Professional InsuranceAgents.

Related: As Google shuts down Google Compare, new doorsopen

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