Google Launches Free Property Search For Letting Agents

The long-awaited Google property search has launched across the UK today, which the lettings industry has been excited about for some time now.

Google Maps Property Search will be free to use, and will also be available for the use of private sellers and landlords, as well as agents, who will be able to submit their details to Google for their properties to be uploaded via Google Maps.

The service, which has already launched in Australia and the US, will also allow property portals to upload their listings directly to Google Maps and has seen widespread adoption by letting agents and portals.

Rightmove, whose shares plummeted dramatically when speculation first broke will be watching with interest as the property portal had not struck a deal with Google to be included in the Google mapping. As Let-Leeds already have links with web portals such as Property Live, Live Lets, Zoopla, Mouseprice, and Property Lab, amongst others, who have taken up the Google service, all Leeds Landlords placing property to rent in Leeds will be included within Google’s breakthrough new mapping feature.

Zoopla chief executive Alex Chesterman described the partnership with Google as “a big win for us” in terms of greater exposure for member agents.

Leeds Letting Agents, Let-Leeds say that ‘Googles new mapping feature is another way of ensuring our landlords can let their Leeds properties fast and efficiently using the web, with an extensive reach to thousands of new potential tenants each day’.

Another launch partner is GMG Property Services, who run the Letting Agents software giant CFP and whose brands also include Venra and Core. As Let-Leeds use these software packages, all property feeds will be automatically uploaded on to the search facility via their software.

Mark Goddard, group managing director of GMG Property Services, said: “We are delighted that we have been selected by Google as a launch partner for this new feature on Google Maps and we are extremely pleased how beneficial this will be for our clients. “The aim of this new search facility is to provide an additional, free to advertise platform to increase an agent’s ability to reach a wider audience”.

All of Let-Leeds properties will be automatically available on Google Maps Property Search.

Andrew Foster, product manager of Google, said this morning: “It’s a simple way for property companies to make their listings even more discoverable, and have them seen on an easy-to-navigate map.”

The new feature, which is launching today right across the country, lets potential home buyers enter a city or village and see available listings represented by markers or small circles on the map. They can then refine their search by price, type of property, bedrooms and bathrooms. The map will automatically update with relevant listings when panned or zoomed to another suburb, and when the search criteria are changed. Clicking on a marker or a small circle will provide more information about the listing, as well as the contact details of the listing agent and a link to their website.

Google have also announced today, the launch of their new web indexing system “Caffeine” which is intent on making SEO for Letting Agents such as Let-Leeds even faster and ‘live’.

The web indexing provides extremely fresh results for searches making search information current and up-to-date for Tenants searching for property in Leeds.

The web has grown and now requires real-time updates, allowing to make best use of social networking, video, images, news feeds and live blogs, meaning the quality of the web is dramatically improving making the average webpage richer and more complex.

Let-Leeds are committed to offering the latest web-based property marketing techniques for Leeds landlords, allowing us to be a main provider of online searches providing Leeds property to rent. To the average user, ‘Caffeine’ may not seem massively apparent, however the quality and content of live google searches for Tenants property searching will become more visible at a faster rate. Ultimately, Google will be serving fresher, more relevant information given to you faster with more of a comprehensive search across the internet.

Let-Leeds Landlord News, Letting Agents Leeds, 16th June 2010

Back to news