More Real Estate Upgrades from Google Maps
November 20, 2009 by Alice Allan
Google Maps’ Australian team have just announced another round of upgrades to the Google Maps real estate search, this time focusing on keyword use and listing information.
The Google Maps blog explains that the introduction of new search technology will bring up listing results for searches that use phrases such as “real estate,” “home for sale Sydney” or “homes for rent near Perth”.
This new search option comes after Google Maps added a real estate option to the “more” menu, allowing users to view a layer displaying listings, earlier this month.
Google Maps has also added in Place Pages for each listing:
This means that clicking the “more info” link next to a listing takes users to what is described as “a faster, easier-to-read page that gives you all of the information we have about a listing: photos, inspection times, videos, details, a Street View preview and nearby public transit information if available, allowing you to quickly find the listing you want and click through to the sources of the listing.”
The Google Maps Australia blog post does not say whether the new search functionality and Place Page option have been added to all locations, and the official Google Earth and Maps blog is currently quiet on the subject, however a search for “real estate” on maps.google.com and maps.google.co.uk presents the same listing results as on maps.google.com.au.
- Google Maps Highlights Real Estate
Google Maps has announced changes to its real estate listings and a new Comparison Ads tool for mortgages. ...
- Real Estate Search on Google Maps
Today Google added property listings to its already extensive range of features for Google Maps in Australia....
- domain.com.au Upgrades Maps
Australian property portal domain.com.au is continuing upgrades of its websites, this time working on its mapping....
- Real Estate Added to Google Maps – What it Means for Australian Property Portals
In Australia and the US, Google has added properties for sale to its mapping site – maps.google.com. Users of Google Maps are now able to see a selection of homes for sale and rent plotted on the maps. These homes for sale seem to be sourced from Google Base – Google’s classifieds engine. It is free for anyone to upload a listing and this can be done through an online interface or through an XML data feed. The inclusion of property listings from Google Base onto Google Maps has some parts of the Australia real estate world abuzz with thoughts of the end of market leaders’ realestate.com.au and domain.com.au. However, while this launch is new and innovative in the Australian market, a lot has to fall in place before realestate.com.au and domain.com.au are truly affected by the “entry” of Google into the Australian real estate advertising scene....
- rightmove.co.uk Adds Google Maps
Leading UK property portal rightmove.co.uk has just announced all its properties will now be displayed on Google Maps. Users are now able to view properties placed on a Google Map by clicking a link on each property’s detailed view page. rightmove.co.uk says this is the first in what will be a series of mapping innovations created in association with Google. Over the next few months, another feature will be released allowing property hunters to see initial search results plotted out within their search area. "Additional exciting uses of Google Maps are also now in development," the portal states....
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Now if they integrate this into the main Google search nicely it will be a game changer. A lot of traffic to major portals comes from Google search, more than they would have you believe. If Google starts directing this traffic to their own service it will make life interesting.
WELL DONE GOOGLE …………
congrats wake up smell freshly ground skinny late from mountain view
1) stop charging make your money from other revenue streams – corporate laziness is decaying advance those dividends need to be put on the back burner your Main frame needs more than the rust blasted of and new slick fancy paintwork.
Recentley I noticed Bupa and a list of 2000 profs popping up – you all know the leader in the pack is changing are you all taking note…
2)PPL and Subscription model is simply not fit for purpose anymore.
Hello we are not at the start of .com boom if you just got out of bed well just to inform you 10yrs is 100 yrs in IT and those share holders need to start thinking whose making those effective board decisions hmmm
3) streamline – head count – cut costs this ship will sink even if you do have the vc ballast times they are a changing
1) office space – accounts dep take note ps how many are there of you also ?
2) cloud computing – IT admin you dont need that many to run the show
3) outosource – yes no matter what accent your cs team and what part running from as long as its providing good solid it service which they do now a days
yes you all know this so more fool you all for no implementation
4) start innovating -you guys stop giving ceo bonuses coz they wrked at big MNC etc… and pour back money into tech innovation – ( just like google does funny that isn’t
? )
5) never think your too big a portal not to see change embrace it and direction
even if its 180
MR AFFILATION IS DYING TO JUMP INTO BED WITH YOU ALL BUT YOUR HOLDING FAITHFUL TO MR PPL AND MR SUBSCRIPTION – DIVORCES HAPPEN IN BUSINESS – survival of the fittest
IT’s A BUSINESS SO get on with it people YES times are TOUGH !!!
or monolithes will roost the nest – r
I agree with tom
-could not have put it better myself our team needs a reality check with revenue and real direction..
if you all want to bury your heads in the sand well fine
- MS Office – pay for
- Google chrome – free
yeah it’s not a overnighter change- but you guys need to march double time by migrating over to the free model otherrwise your all truly well you know …!
salesforce – no – free encourages more listers and agents developers etc
third party team – yes Yes YES
even bring in more third party outsoucers so a bid becomes competitive
all of us geeks ,could put alot of you so called heads or managers of dept heads to shame let alone run rings around you
though the old boys club has dented fresh ideas new people ever getting a chance or hangers who think they know it all on ruining the performance of a company.
oh and dont forget your mobile market which is the future which natural evolve you into affilation and third party so all you lagger get with it.
yeah your probably saying ditto
though it was built on entreprenuerialship REA remember through S&B team
some where its got fat and lazy …..
yeah im passionate always have been never given a chance …………..
r
Well how far will Google go? Will they start eating the companies that buy adwords from them? Each property site that ceases to become relevant because of Google real estate search and google base decreases compettition for property keywords and decreases their revenue potential. Is decreasing revenue part of their plan? No they’ll start extracting revenue from the end user, but in a monopoly environment there will be little alternative so you just gotta pay. You agree?
Tom – really what are you on about?
Give us a list of free to list sites that are changing the landscape?
I tend to agree with Paul. Google has the potential to subsume entire online industries ranging from Property Portals to Price Comparison websites. Provided there is no physical product changing hands then Google clearly hold all cards and they can drive as much traffic as they like to their own sites.
However, will Google seek to replace those industries where there is currently fierce PPC competition to Google’s benefit? I doubt it. They will seek to find a balance between innovation, but still providing opportunities for companies to bid for clicks. I could imagine a time in the future when Google would let portals and individuals bid to the primary link shown for each individual property on their maps.
The current potential for newspapers to withdraw free listing of their news content on Google and instead potentially tie up an exclusive deal with Bing will help to reduce Google’s monopoly in the world of sarch.
The way forward for property portals now is to work closely with Google to ensure they are maximimising their exposure thorugh these new features.
Java, CraigsList is one. It charges in some areas but is 95% free.
Java thanks for pointing that out to those still in the land of nod …
ok criag list – gettiing stronger through google by the way with own innovations
also gumtree marries nestoria
some of gumtrees relatives like ppl and sub models
listen alot of you own the three verticals or are constantly in process of buying new ones
even the talkies and holidays how i so love them back in the vc office
– j c and h ’s ………..
bolt them on abra kadabra – content – ( which is king )
concentrate on evolving thrid party which will bring you all through and now is
now the a bonzana to the promised land of revs
strange how everyone knows all this but is just lazy on implementation
I hope that really starts to explain the big picture unfolding at moment
does this blur out a portal becoming a pure bred portal?
hell no- its called evolution and evolving with consumer demands and surviving a very hard crunch
-r
Another small step to world domination….better start selling my Rightmove shares.
Is it just me or does Tom write in a rather bitter tone?
Anyway still waiting…Craigslist ok. Gumtree no way.
Ok let me ask it a different way. Tell me some free real estate portals that are genuinely challenging a market leading membership site in a developed market? I ask that a a real question as I dont know of any.
Google, as some have mentioned above will not be free for ever. We all know this. Anyone who thinks so is off in “the cloud”… with web 2.0, user generated / local content and any other cliche and buzz term from the last few years.
At the blunt end of the stick are the generic mass market agent and property hunters who dont give a toss about anything other finding buyers and houses as easy as possible.
Free and buzzy or 5k a year that closes me deals…I know where my money will keep going.
Baggies – I wouldn’t sell those Rightmove shares if I was you. See this article below form the Times today.
20/11/2009 09:00
Panmure Gordon has given an upbeat assessment of Rightmove’s prospects on the stock market on the back of its attractiveness to potential buyers.
The broker said an improving mergers and acquisitions market was likely to focus on niche strategic assets, such as the online property search website.
US-based portals looking to diversify their revenues were the most likely buyers, Panmure Gordon said. Rightmove rose a penny to 569.5p.
20/11/09 Times 77
web 2.0 what decade are you living in ?
no one wants or will dominate
arrogance is always ugly bigger you are the harder you fall
if no one wants to get on those crash diets far be it from me to throw my tupence
i know nothing………
really
r
Java, you can not be serious if you think Google are going to start charging for their service.
UI still sux
Google do search
They shld stick at it
Craig, depends on what you mean by charging.
Someone will have to start paying at somestage otherwise it makes no sense. As people have mentioned before, if google really wanted to take over the portal world, why would they do so without having some sort of revenue strategy?
Dont tell you’re one of those people who still see’s them as the quirky kids that do it for the love not money?
Java, the revenue model is pretty clear, it’s the ad’s plastered all over the page. They are making billions from these ads. I think you seem to be of the opinion if Google annoy the major portals they will stop putting their ads on Google and Google will stop making money. What will actually happen is over several years (not overnight) the portals may stop putting ads on Google but as Maps Real Estate takes off agents other real estate related organisations will start advertising more on these ads and less on portals. Basically the advertising and revenue will just be redirected from portals to Google, whoever is generating the revenue for them. Google are in the advertising industry and when they see the ads all over sites like realestate.com.au they want a piece of that action. They could quite easily squash any portal pretty quickly but to do so would be not good for their reputation and possibly illegal, so instead they will do it over a transitional period of several years.
Fair point as we actually agree
the fact that you are all charging to list in the first place makes me want to list on google and all the other free portal sites they are so many of you in such a saturated market . I will be listing my portfolio exclusively on free sites from now ps i still get good leads