Comments on: Google’s Gunning for Real Estate Professionals

By: Marketing a Listing using Google Sketchup? | CREN BLoG

Marketing a Listing using Google Sketchup? | CREN BLoG — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:56:04 +0000

[...] came accross a post by Joel Burslem that took me to a Google link about all the different “tools” now [...]

By: House Review

House Review — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 00:47:21 +0000

[...] Google is makes a serious play to woo Real Estate professionals, launching a dedicated page outlining their Google Tools for Real Estate Professionals.They’re not shy about tooting their own horn on it either:Google has more real estate searches than all real estate specific web sites.Google is the most-used search engine for researching and purchasing real estate information and services.The Google Network drives more traffic to ColdwellBanker.com and Century21.com than all other search engines combined – more than 70% of each site’s traffic.The Google Network reaches over 80% of U.S. Internet users.Some of the products they are highlighting include Google Base, Maps, Adwords and their 3D modeling tool Sketchup (for more on Sketchup, see my post It’s a Google world).Until now, Google’s offerings have remained a little unwieldy and disparate, and this is largely due to its many acquisitions and its rapid roll out of new products. However, there is a visible shift underway at the search giant as it begins unifying its services. For consumers, it’s been most visible with the consolidation of Gmail, Calendar, Photos and most recently Docs & Spreadsheets.This page is a similar attempt to start to pull together many separate elements and present them as a unified platform for small business owners. And it’s pretty clear. With all these services, Google is a becoming a very powerful destination for real estate professionals.It’s also a little overwhelming. I’d like to see if there’s anyone out there who is making effective use of all the tools Google provides. But really that’s not the point. There’s enough in there for anyone to pick and choose and still have very effective results. The fact that most of them are free is even more startling.For those of you attending the Inman Connect Conference next week, Google has a number of special “Maximizer�? breakout sessions to attend. I’ve signed up for the 1:00pm Adwords session on Monday. See you there.http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing. … fessionals [...]

By: Brad Nelson

Brad Nelson — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:43:11 +0000

While Google is certainly poising itself to dominate the online real estate sphere, their tools are still largely too complicated for today’s REALTOR. I would put money, and large amounts at that, that even a tech-savvy blogging sales agent with a BlackBerry wouldn’t know where to begin with a Google Maps API, and certainly doesn’t want to learn how to draw a house in Sketch Up. Google needs to learn how to make these tools easy for on-the-go real estate professionals if they truly want to capture the market of REALTORs.

By: Real Central VA - Tracking the Charlottesville and Central VA real estate market and more » One of the things about Google I don’t like

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 18:00:30 +0000

[...] One of the things about Google I don’t like By Jim Duncan With all the talk about Google’s winning the battle of real estate search, the thing that irks me the most is the consensus that their victory is inevitable. Without competition, complacency reigns. Witness the fragmentation and loss of relevance that MLS’s are experiencing. [...]

By: Greg Tracy

Greg Tracy — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 06:56:31 +0000

Google drives a lot of my website’s traffic and it’s WAY easier to advertise on than MSN or Yahoo- and I mean WAY easier.

I use Googlemaps on my website, which I found to have more accuracy, and the leads I get from Google have a higher conversion rate.

Did I mention they were eaiser to advertise with?

Greg- BlueRoof

By: Steve Leung

Steve Leung — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 05:08:06 +0000

Unfortunately, the listing situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Google’s tools are functional enough, but in a real estate world that’s already fractured between MLS information silos, more companies are building more silos. Disintermediation will result in poor property and offer histories, meaning less quality information and context for consumers — resulting in more decisions based on hearsay.

Here in the SF Bay Area, there are already four realtor associations with independent MLS systems. To be fair, they’re making an effort this year at consolidating info into the Northern California Real Estate eXchange (NCREX).

But if agents figured out earlier that it’s more important to interpret information for clients than it is to be a gatekeeper of knowledge, we’d have an open system.

It would raise the quality (read: trustworthiness) of information, make the decision making process faster, increase the “liquidity” of real estate, and earn more for all sides due to efficiency!

By: Real Estate Blog - Yet Another New Listing System Makes Its Debut

Real Estate Blog - Yet Another New Listing System Makes Its Debut — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:13:59 +0000

[...] So the question is, who’ll win the race to be the site to search for homes? My bet is Google. As Joel Burslem at The Future of Real Estate Marketing mentions, Google is targeting real estate professionals with a new page documenting its suite of services. Google is already claiming that it “has more real estate searches than all real estate specific web sites.” [...]

By: » Yet Another New Listing System Makes Its Debut|Tampa Florida Real Estate Blog » Blog Archive

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:38:48 +0000

[...] But as the cream rises to the top and certain sites begin to grab and keep the majority of home search traffic, we may only have to enter listing data in one database once again. So the question is, who’ll win the race to be the site to search for homes? My bet is Google. As Joel Burslem at The Future of Real Estate Marketing mentions, Google is targeting real estate professionals with a new page documenting its suite of services. Google is already claiming that it “has more real estate searches than all real estate specific web sites.” [...]

By: Robert (french property agent)

Robert (french property agent) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:15:32 +0000

I think that, of all the real estate tools/services that Google is touting here, for the average agent there are only two significant ones:
- Search engine position. Here Google is the leader for real estate, but as they are the search engine leader for virtually all topis/keywords this is hardly a surprise. The only recent change is their market position has become even more dominant, to the point that I don’t even try anymore to optomise for any of the other search engines.
- Adwords and Sponsored search results. A lot of real estate agents invest in these. Depending on one’s conversion rate, these can be very worthwhile. Here google has a clear advantage is that Adwords and Google sponsored listings have a wider market coverage than any other internet alternative. However, the important metric is “clicks per dollar”. On the basis of this measure, I believe there may be better (more cost-effective) internet advertising alternatives.

The other stuff, in my opinion, is currently not much more than “interesting”. However, it is good to be aware of it and to track it, in case it really takes off.

By: Jonathan R. Bunch

Jonathan R. Bunch — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:49:09 +0000

Google’s real estate tools are useful but need to be more consildated. In reference to NAR being able to compete with Google I have to chuckle as well, we all know Google is much more advanced in technology, anything can happen with their money and intelligence. And to those going to the Inman Conference in New York, please check out my booth for Connecting Home Buyers in the Bronze Sponsorship and introduce yourself!