Google Property – Coming To A Street Near You?

There is a rumbling in the property sector, and it’s not just the sound of estate agents gnashing their teeth, it’s the sound of an industry preparing itself for a visit from the world’s biggest search engine, Google. Word on the street (view) is that Google will soon be launching an adapted version of Google maps, allowing for the inclusion of property to buy and let. This has the potential to be a hugely powerful combination, people will have the tools to not only see the relative location of a potential property, but then virtually tour the surrounding area via using Google Streetview. At a push, it would be possible to decide on a property without even visiting.

The Google Removal Van

As you can imagine this has set a number of ripples splashing through the UK property industry. Property portals such as Rightmove must be looking over their shoulders with increasing concern. They currently carry listings from estate agents, not direct from consumers, so if Google wanders in with the facility of not only allowing estate agents but also private sellers to list their properties on Google’s comprehensive system then surely the online property business will never be the same again. Companies like Rightmove must have their fingers crossed.

In actual fact Google has been here before, they launched a similar service in Australia in July last year. It provides an interesting window into the how the system might operate in the UK, and to be honest, it’s a little difficult not to be slightly impressed:

Click to see the full image

As you can see in the screenshot above, the Google Maps interface doesn’t come as a surprise, but the dots scattered across this (admittedly eye-wateringly expensive area of downtown Sydney) map denotes individual locations that are listed to buy or rent.

The left hand bar handily provides a set of filters so that you are only seeing the properties that match your criteria’s (such as 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 parking space).

Click to see the full image

Clicking on the individual points on the map activates a popup window displaying further headline details of the property. The ‘more info >>’ link takes you to the main property page:

Click to see the full image

Combined with Google Streetview this system becomes a compelling tool for house hunters. It’s a whole detailed breakdown of information about the areas potential property locations.

Here is a full video explanation of the Australian Real Estate Search Service:

Is It Perfect?

If you already know the exact location that you want to browse in then you could suggest that a vast section of the tools power is reduced, but in this day-and-age it’s difficult to contemplate that people interested in buying property aren’t using tools like Google Maps and Streetview already.

The Response from the industry has been split, as you might imagine, along the lines of how this potential ‘big player’ might affect their business. The established figure of Rightmove was buoyant when they talked to the BBC last year. Commercial Director Miles Shipside said:

“”It remains to be seen what actually happens”

“Google is a big name, but they don't always manage to follow things through on a local level.

We only list property with estate agents due to UK legislation. Agents offer very good value and charge very competitive rates compared to the rest of the world”

Although some other commentators seemed to paint a more radical picture. TV property expert, presenter of Channel 4’s Property Ladder, and owner of online property site Tepilo, Sarah Beeny talked to the BBC:

Sarah Beeny has her own property site tepilo.com (Image courtesy of tepilo.com)

“If it does what Google says it will, then it brings the buyer and seller closer together and that could mean removing blocks in the way, and that could mean no longer having to pay extortionate fees to estate agents.

It will certainly blow Rightmove out of the water. You can only get your property listed on that site if you are an estate agent – what Google will do is level the playing field and they are doing it for free”

What About A New Extension?

Earlier this month we reported on a patent application from Google that would allow for advertising to be inserted into Streetview images. What are the chances that this is just coincidence? It doesn’t stretch the realms of possibility to think that people selling and renting their property would also be able to place adverts to also be displayed on Streetview. You would have suddenly cornered the online walk-past trade for your property! People casually pottering around Streetview, perhaps looking for property, or perhaps more likely looking at potential holiday locations could be advertised to.

Final Offer

Can we really see this as the end for established sites such as Rightmove? As you can imagine it’s really difficult to say, on one hand you run the risk of underestimating the manoeuvrings of one of the most recognised companies in the world, and on the other hand some have suggested that the system launched in Australia didn’t completely decimate the existing sites. Although, as news of this upcoming UK service was revealed, Rightmoves' shares dropped 10%. Clearly some sectors are watching this development with interest.

There are examples of Google stopping support for some services, for example Google Answers, but it is difficult to see this as a niche service from Mountain View. Google will be aware of the size and influence that the property industry holds.

Although this service is (in essence) a modified Google Maps, there is little reason to presume that its simplicity will hold it back. In many ways the fact that it is integrated into a service like Maps (and perhaps Streetview) means that its high profile nature might be one of its best assets.

The one thing it will need is visitors and users, the service needs to become a ‘default choice’ for people looking to buy, sell, and rent. With the launch of this service in Australia earlier on this year you would certainly be brave to bet against Google ironing out any initial problems.

..More information can be found on:

The Register

Google Maps Australia

Rightmove

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