One of the most precious commodities in the world is real estate. Everyone is looking for their own little piece of the world to settle and call their own. Home ownership is a goal shared by so many that it seems appropriate that companies like Google and Yahoo would go to such lengths to cater to real estate searchers.
Google, Yahoo Enhance Real Estate Offerings
Search is evolving. The scope is shifting from the horizontal, all-in-one informational resource to the vertical, everything you ever wanted to know about one topic destination. People aren’t merely looking for information anymore; they want specificity.
With that being said, no one would find it too surprising that sites like Yahoo Finance and Google Maps have become so widely successful. It’s these niche sites that represent the future of information gathering.
Keeping that concept in mind, both Google and Yahoo are constantly working to develop real estate search functions designed to cater to everyone from the first-time homebuyer to the licensed professional.
In the Official Google Blog, Ethan Russel talks about the company’s latest real estate offering:
If you’re a real estate professional, making your listings searchable on Google is simple and completely free. We don’t charge for photos or offer “featured listings.” We believe that buyers just want to see the home that fits them best and that providers shouldn’t have to pay to show it to them.
We don’t sell houses, deal with agents’ compensation, or charge for leads. Our business is helping people find the information they’re looking for—when you have it, we send them directly to you.
Yahoo isn’t any slouch in the real estate game either. Recently, the popular Internet destination added to its existing service by launching its Foreclosure Center, a feature that lets users search for properties that have recently undergone foreclosure – potentially saving them upwards of 30% in the process.
How long will it be before partnerships between the major search engines and real estate professionals not only become necessary, but commonplace?
