I have an excel spreadsheet that I would like to be able to
automate the process of comparing two columns of data and then
inserting blank cells into the 2nd column which would continue to
move the data in the 2nd column down to the next row. I do not want
to insert a row.

here is sample data before
col1 col2 col3 col4
abbott joe baker sally
atkins ted conti greg
baker sally
conti greg fudd elmer
doe john
fudd elmer

After comparing the names should match up or the cell should be
blank. So the data would look like this.

col1 col2 col3 col4
abbott joe
atkins ted
baker sally baker sally
conti greg conti greg
doe john
fudd elmer fudd elmer

I would appreciate any suggestions to make this process go quicker.
....

The following works with the example. However, there may be unstated
assumptions in the problem statement, so proceed with care. ...

But wait, there's more.

After some thought, consider the new and improved version below. For one
thing, it allows two people to have the same last name but different first
names. Also, it corrects for somebody mistakenly typing a space at the end
of a name. More fixes are possible, so, as before, proceed with caution.

At the top of col5, put
=TRIM(C1)&"<"&TRIM(D1)

At the top of col6, put
=IF(COUNTIF(E:E,TRIM(A1)&"<"&TRIM(B1))0, TRIM(A1), "")

At the top of col7, put
=IF(F1="","",TRIM(B1))

Extend these three down for as many rows as you need. Then hide col3, col4
and col5.