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Google announced they are "retiring" their Google Real Estate Search feature, which was launched back in July 2009.
Google said the service will go offline on February 10, 2011. They cite the reason for killing off this search service is partly due to "low usage." But we knew that, we thought Google would save the real estate market - oh well.
I guess companies like Zillow and their competitors can now relax a bit. Google has decided to give up competing on real estate search and let the smaller search companies have it. I for one am happy for them.
Here is a picture of how it looks, so we know after they take it away:
Forum discussion at Sphinn.
Comments:
Moosa Hemani
01/28/2011 04:53 pm
i thought to use this feature for one of my client but the problem is the listing submission process is very complicated!!
Bertdanie0909
01/31/2011 04:11 pm
Most real estate company depends on Google application Google Real estate Search for their business. These will have a huge impact to real estate business. Real estate company will now look for the best alternative for Good Real Estate Search.
Daniel Chavez Moran
02/01/2011 05:05 pm
This is not true. One of the main issues with Google Real Estate search is that listings tend to stay alive far after the property is rented/purchased. All U.S. real estate companies depend on applications that are fed off of a universal MLS database. If realtors used Google Search for finding properties, not only would they be useless from a value-added perspective, they would waste about half of their time on listings that are no longer active.
zeroth
02/12/2011 05:11 pm
We had found Google Real Estate search far better than Zillow. Zillow's property value estimates are inaccurate, their site is slow and cluttered, they have confusing features like ZEstimate?? or something like that. Makes no sense. Please someone take a Google-like approach and develop a clean site that aggregates listings, has nice clean filter options, lets you search by terms in the listings, and links to the listings!
Gerardpetrocelli
02/14/2011 03:34 am
You have to be kidding. I just learned about Google real estate and just started to get into it. I think its the best. Google never advertised it . Many people don't know about it. It is a perfect marriage with their google earth and it provides an excellent way to chech out the surrounding neighborhood. Google must reconsider,
Josh
02/17/2011 01:30 pm
I started a petition to try and get this feature back. If interested, you can sign it here: http://www.change.org/petitions/ask-google-to-bring-back-real-estate-for-google-maps
Aliyna
02/18/2011 12:45 am
I loved Google real estate search! I'm really sad that it's gone. Google, bring it back!
Wittwerjared
02/18/2011 01:24 am
Google Real Estate Map was the only application that worked much at all. Now the consumer is at risk of being mislead by an agent without the customer's best interests in mind. One small step for mankind, into a bigger hole.
Wit
02/18/2011 05:39 am
Please bring google real estate back. I loved it!
Extremely disappointed
02/18/2011 02:50 pm
Google real estate was great!! I just looked for it and couldn't find it yesterday. I loved it! You could see at a glance exactly where all houses for sale were and see the neighborhoods they were in without typing in every address. As more and more people are selling by owner, Google real estate gave them an equal footing. It's too bad that they removed it just as the housing market is beginning to come back. Even with the older listings, it was very beneficial to the individual person.
Ghjgyug
02/19/2011 08:52 am
:(
Mslman
02/20/2011 06:08 pm
This was a great service. I hate that they took it off line.
GoogleRealEstateLover
02/21/2011 07:26 am
Noooooooooooooooo! Bring it back!!!
Jmartyinva
02/21/2011 11:41 am
None of the other sites even comes close to the efficient real estate search service that Google provided.
Jestep
02/21/2011 08:13 pm
I was extremely impressed with their real estate service which I found by accident a few months ago. Definitely will be missed.
Michael
02/22/2011 11:15 pm
I will miss it. I found the deal of my lifetime browsing Google's RE feature and was hoping to find more... Oh well, I suppose nothing lasts forever.
Goaway
02/23/2011 03:40 am
google was great, but the sites they linked to like realtytrac, and homegain sucked. homegain raised flags on my antivirus which is why I had to stop using it. I like the service though,
NotTooImpressed
02/24/2011 02:16 am
I cannot express how disappointed I am with Google with their decision to eliminate the Real Estate search. This is how I found my house and was wanting to help someone else look for a home and I can no longer do this freely without a real estate agent breathing down my neck, trying to make a sale. Way to go Google . . . one big score for the real estate tycoons and one big loss for the little guy.
Disappointed
02/24/2011 05:24 am
Horrible! I am still searching for a house and now I can't find anything close to what Google was providing! Extremely disappointed! Other sites ask to sign up (to send me their useless "daily updates" and other junk, and to watch over my shoulder). There is nothing like Google RE! Too bad!
Relax folks
02/24/2011 02:27 pm
Anyone heard of Trulia? It's really pretty good. Nice UI, does the same stuff as Google Real Estate and more. No need to get hassled by realtors. So relax a bit, folks, and check it out.
Homer
02/24/2011 07:33 pm
How sad. It is a really useful tool. I don't believe low usage was the reason. Google was very good in taking the long view. They might have dropped this due to being cut off by MLS.
Mesalarch
02/25/2011 02:03 am
Bad idea Google! No other map search comes close. Bring it back, please.
John
02/25/2011 06:47 pm
This is a total bummer for me. I invest in real estate and I always used google for researching areas and properties. They didn't have the most information on the properties, but they had the biggest and easiest map of large areas. For instance, Realtors is a great site for research, but theyre map can only accomodate 300 properties at any time.
Danielle
02/25/2011 08:08 pm
I used that feature all of the time and I loved it! Bring it back. No other site is as user-friendly as this was.
Rob
02/26/2011 11:02 am
Shit!
Guest
02/26/2011 08:27 pm
I for one miss it :(
Adriennew88
02/27/2011 01:14 am
BRING IT BACK, I THINK I WILL STOP USING GOOGLE NOW, I LOVED THE REAL ESTATE FEATURE.
P1Snowflake
02/27/2011 12:52 pm
Low usage was due to most people not even knowing this feature existed. I used it all the time, but people like my mom, who is likely to make a move and would love to use it, had no idea the feature was there. I went to show it to her and miraculously it's missing now. Please bring it back, I miss it already.
Ryan
02/27/2011 07:20 pm
Gahh! Please bring it back Google. I just discovered it and loved it.
J91137125
02/27/2011 08:10 pm
It was definitely the best way to look at real estate, but not many people knew about it.
Adam Romary
02/27/2011 08:35 pm
I will miss this too! Bring it back!
Gotayj
02/27/2011 09:47 pm
i used it all the time im in i just got back from sea and i was planing on buying .....grrrrh bring it back
Dnsmithnc
02/28/2011 04:08 am
Zillow doesn't remotely compare with google in the display category for the real estate listings. Zillow makes it hard to manuever to where you want to be or change the zoom level. I wish there was a site that combined the best features of Google and Zillow.
Dnsmithnc
02/28/2011 04:15 am
Doesn't give you the big view like google. However, thanks. The UI is much better than Zillow.
Eric Wittry
02/28/2011 03:38 pm
Stupidest thing Google has done yet... Failed because of poor marketing and development of a vision.
rose
02/28/2011 11:33 pm
Bummer to hear it's gone. I used it quite a bit. Oh well.
Melbeat
03/01/2011 04:17 am
I used this feature constantly, will miss it. It was the most comprehensive search I have ever used.
Springloop
03/01/2011 09:34 am
I wondered what happened!!! This is a great loss. I use it to search for available homes in conjunction with the map. I am looking to move closer to my mom and this is a real bummer. Google, if you are watching this....BRING IT BACK! This is a disservice to your users. Not much reason for me to use you anymore ..... you have nothing over 'Bing' now. Too bad.
Ian807
03/01/2011 04:14 pm
Noooooo.........
Rusty
03/01/2011 06:42 pm
I was using it to find our rental, I really miss it.
Shortmichael
03/01/2011 08:42 pm
I really miss it also it was the main reason i used google .
Aim4truth
03/01/2011 09:59 pm
Who else has a service like Google Real Estate? Zillow's don't compare - out dated and no actual listing agent that I can find. Does someone like Yahoo or Bing provide a better service?
JimBobBill
03/01/2011 10:35 pm
Right in the middle of my house search of course. Zillow and the others are slow, cumbersome, and inefficient
Tatim1980
03/02/2011 04:20 am
BOOO! Bring it back!!! It was great.
Sleepless in Florida
03/03/2011 12:20 am
I miss that feature sooo much... I used real estate ALL THE TIME and was closing in on a dream home in another state! Please bring it back...all the other sites are useless compared to Google! Thank you.
Yo
03/03/2011 02:30 am
Real estate was one of the best features of Google maps. Better than the rest imo.
Rodbwright
03/03/2011 02:55 pm
That's a bunch of crap. Low usage, they say. Well, maybe it was a little difficult to get into. BUT IT WORKED. IMO it was the only way to search real estate. Not we are at the whim of the money grabbers.
Justinfranzen
03/03/2011 10:54 pm
bring it back!!!!
trendreader
03/04/2011 04:56 pm
It is about book-cooking for the real-estate and the banking industry. The Google real estate site was showing the whole picture and the real situation of the housing market, how many houses on-sell for how much, how long in each city and location. It left no room for real-estate speculators including banks to manipulate the price.
bgtap1
03/04/2011 07:12 pm
Google Real Estate was a godsend. Please bring it back
yawdamp
03/04/2011 08:33 pm
OH NO!! Google maps with the real estate option was the best! This is a real loss. I use Google maps frequently - and the real estate option was great! Shopping for homes in Street View - what else is better?? Please bring it back!!!
Bostondann
03/05/2011 02:48 am
We used this when we were home shopping and it was fantastic!!
dudddd
03/05/2011 09:33 pm
Wwwhyyyyyy? The others dont do as good of a job....
Jim
03/05/2011 11:20 pm
This was a great feature....I really hate to see it go.
Nate8213
03/08/2011 04:34 am
By far the most useful real estate search tool out there! BRING THIS BACK!! I know dozens of people who found places to rent/buy through this service which did not cut an agent out, in fact it brought the sale to them! A TRAVESTY I TELL YOU!!!
Marvin Bullock
03/08/2011 04:37 am
Most people didn't know that google was in the real estate business. It was good enough that I would have paid to have continued access.
Tylerbrown331
03/08/2011 07:39 pm
I was wondering why I couldn't find the real estate view anymore. That's too bad, I thought the real estate view was very useful when trying to find a house.
Jeffbrink
03/08/2011 09:42 pm
I used to use this every day and now I miss it every day.
Srdxman
03/09/2011 02:29 am
This was an incredibly useful tool for the average joe searching for properties actively on the MLS in specific areas.. made it easy to screen hundreds of possible properties and narrow down the search to only those you wanted your agent to look into.. Now, this info is held by Real Estate corporations as if it were proptietary info to them only.. taking power from the people.. and giving it to corporations.. my guess is that those very Real Estate corporations threatened Google with pulling their ads if Google continued this feature.. in which case, Google is full of BS.. just another greedy corporation..
Indigojeanbaby
03/09/2011 04:24 am
I miss Google Real Estate Search! Please bring back this wonderful tool! Please!!!
Eric
03/09/2011 06:32 am
this so suck! Google made it so much easier to find what is for sale. Now I just listed my house and bam! How can people find me. The real estate sites make it impossible to find listing and force you to go to a realtor. I hate it.
Eric
03/09/2011 06:35 am
Stopping google real estate is shooting ipad in the heart. Stupid.
Tigger0129t formerly of gmail
03/13/2011 04:20 am
just cut Google out of my faves will use another search engine also will be trading my droid in for a i phone this is such a load of crap I see that even Google will fold under the pressure sorry to see that was a great function and made a least a few real estate agents very wealth as I have bought 4 houses I have found on there for my flip business guess if that want to drop it that bad the money will go else where
Strrowland
03/14/2011 01:11 am
hate to see it go please bring it back!
ItinerantC
03/14/2011 11:03 am
Man! Go away for a couple of weeks and look what happens. Wouldn't it be so nice if it came back.
Sjohnson
03/15/2011 12:08 am
...so sick of Google muscle coming in and doing it their way regardless of how they step on other people and kill ideas. They keep supplying classic examples of "ends justify the means." I'm starting to think they have become worse than several other big gun predecessors.
Val
03/16/2011 04:21 am
I actually loved this feature...I am annoyed they took it away. It brought up every house, whereas some websites only bring up certain ones. I could pin point an exact area of where I wanted to find a home for sale, but now I have to search by a whole city. I had only found out about google real estate recently...maybe lack of advertisement about it was what made it have "low usage".
val
03/16/2011 04:30 am
I didn't know the feature existed until recently, either! Much easier and quicker to use than any other site!
Hshurden
03/19/2011 09:14 am
This was my favorite function on the internet. It so tuned you in to the social environment of neighborhoods of communities when traveling. I loved it, and will miss it so much.
Robertbierma
03/20/2011 07:58 pm
Wish they would bring it back. There is nothing out there that was as good.
Hoth
03/21/2011 02:56 am
i dont understand. this was actually a good product.
Lsmonroe10
03/22/2011 07:59 pm
I hate to see this gone!
Nssinc
03/23/2011 04:40 pm
I really doubt that. I'm sure there are a lot of other apps they have that are used far less. This one was extremely helpful. Shame on them for dropping this at a time where it was of big help.
Catopia1
03/23/2011 06:56 pm
I am so sad to see it go. I am looking for a house and it was so useful
anonymous
03/23/2011 09:01 pm
I was using it now, I'm trying to find a house and google shut it down. Low usage? How can that be? It's google for crying out loud. Maybe try advertising it first like other successful search engines then they will have customers.
AntsAZphX
03/23/2011 09:12 pm
I just have to say: why??? why google??? why???
Taboulichic
03/26/2011 01:23 pm
But, but! I LOVED that feature!
Derek0420
03/29/2011 06:48 pm
NOOOOO, I can't stand realtors! I loved this!
Zendegi38
04/02/2011 03:46 am
i loved google ral estate map search. It helped so much. Pleaes google people bring it back !!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the only reason i had switched to google in the first place...........keep me as a customer !
Jaemn01
04/02/2011 10:24 pm
Bring this back please!
Angel
04/03/2011 09:17 pm
I LOVED that service!!!! PLEASE bring it back!!!
Lionscale
04/04/2011 02:57 am
Dum idea. I loved this feature. My wife and I spent hours using it and following up by car. We eat out less now. Burn less fuel. And have less time to talk to each other on little adventures. Another little peice of my world has slipped away,
HeckSpawn
04/14/2011 03:36 pm
I think the main reason is that people are looking at all the foreclosures. The Google founders are major Obama supporters, and it's reflecting poorly on BO(and the Founders) that the country is going downhill so rapidly under his leadership. Instead of admitting they made a mistake backing Obama, they're trying to make things look better by denying people the ability to see actually how bad it is.
Eltercosoy78
04/21/2011 05:56 pm
please bring back it was so easy I love it and I miss it
mrhbjr
05/01/2011 12:57 am
Stay. Don't leave.
Justin
05/03/2011 09:24 pm
Removing this feature is upsetting. Removing the most efficient real-estate search tool, I've ever used, is just silly. They should realize that the service is revolutionary, and i believe its an extraordinarily good green product that saves an incredible amount of time and energy investigating real-estate. Please continue this feature, Google just isn't the same.
Superf88
05/07/2011 02:06 am
zillow, trulia. surely they paid a handsome sum to google to exit
Repoagent1160
05/10/2011 07:31 pm
I miss this feature. It was easy to use.
MyRealtor
05/12/2011 01:51 am
How in the HECK do you turn this into an Anti Obama response? Smart people look at facts, not rhetoric and certainly not "fear mongering". The country is going down financially because of "PAST" Policies, and our total government being too week to enforce existing policies. Banks used to serve the people, and we had a tough "no non-sense" government. Now we have "Popularity" contests and in-fighting not problem solving. Fixing the financial problem in America is the responsibility of EVERY AMERICAN and the President is responsible for leading the effort.
Hi
06/05/2011 08:39 pm
Is was a great tool while it lasted, hopefully Google gets their heads out of their asses and brings it back.
Junkymonkey618
06/14/2011 06:21 pm
what a loss :(
Ashleyslepicka
07/09/2011 01:55 pm
Google has some messed-up internal communication if they think this never got used! My whole used to go on it just for fun and I turned a bunch of people at work on to it and I basically found my house through it. I was on it several times a day, every day until we bought our house in January. I can't believe they got rid of it!
TheDude
07/17/2011 12:47 pm
Also it doesnt show rental properties
TheGettus
07/25/2011 03:03 pm
Google is a commercial enterprise, and that would take precedence over any political considerations. It looks like someone has been listening to too much talk radio. This is not part of some imaginary "left-wing conspiracy."
Majoritain Veller
08/06/2011 06:02 pm
I assumption companies like Zillow and their competitors can now relax a bit. Google has absitively to accord up aggressive on absolute acreage seek and let the abate seek companies accept it. I for one am blessed for them. Property Management Companies
yardbird
02/17/2012 04:37 am
I am very said. I miss it.
HeckSpawn
03/20/2012 04:25 am
Looking at the facts just looks scarier and scarier... I'd rather look at the "rose colored glasses" outlook that our government is promoting. Oh, yeah... 8% unemployment... Mmmmmm, 2% inflation... Gov' ment heathcare comin' my way!!! How much we got left on the EBT, Honey??? Yeah, I feel much better now...
Mathias
03/20/2012 04:39 am
Go back to listen to Rush Limbaugh... It's a website about SEO and a post about real estate, your restarded political comments have nothing to do here actually.
Ron
07/10/2012 02:19 pm
I used this feature WTF.