Around a decade now, GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) and assorted other big tech companies have sought to enter the insurance space Recently, Amazon’s retreat from the UK broker market and Google’s deal to enter the insurance exchange made headlines. It’s easy to underestimate or overestimate the impacts, threats and opportunities arising from this dynamic. In this blog, I take a look at some notable attempts and how they fared. I will assess the current situation from the perspective of incumbent insurance companies, and I will offer suggestions for what to do and what to watch for going forward.
10 years of fear, loathing, and underwhelm
The topic of Big Tech usurping (or choking on) insurance business first came to my attention around 2011, when a Wordstream infographic (see also below) made clear that insurance companies were splashing out on Google keywords. I wrote at the time that this was incompatible with insurance’s classical business model, with its Achilles heel being enormous acquisition costs per customer.
