Google announced today that it will no longer support real estate listings uploaded through classified listings on Google maps.
Searchers will no longer be able to find FSBO, foreclosures or rental properties through Google maps search. Google Base, which real estate professionals currently use to upload real estate listings, is being replaced by Google Shopping APIs which will discontinue support for real estate listings.
In what we like to believe is a shout out to HMF, Google said in a statement that “due to…the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites…we’ve decided to discontinue the real estate feature within Google Maps on February 10, 2011.”
We believe we’re the best place to find value in the online real estate market and apparently Google agrees – at least thats our interpretation ; )
Google Maps gave real estate a central hub for advertising all real estate, to include properties on this site if this site so chose to do so. It allowed buyers to see all properties available, not just the ones that happened to be on the one website they were looking at. It was essentially the yellow pages of Real Estate, but still required an outside of Google website (like this one) to work I feel that Google’s decision to discontinue is reprehensible and I invite all who feel the same to sign a petition to bring asking them to rethink their position. If you are so inclined, you can sign it here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ask-google-to-bring-back-real-estate-for-google-maps
Yeah, Google left the real estate business. The MLS systems are just too regional, and I believe that Google thought that it would have a battle on its hands. In the long run…
I guess they just felt that it wasn’t in their best interests…