Google Base is now functional in Australia for Australian, and New Zealand based real estate agents.

This is huge for Australian real estate agents. Much more so than New Zealand real estate agents because New Zealand real estate agents do not have to deal with the monopoly situtation that has developed in Australia with RealEstate.com.au

Google Base has several key features that can potentially cripple RealEstate.com.au in a major way.

Soon you’ll see exactly how Google Base can remove RealEstate.com.au from its perch as I explain it in detail, but first a little background about the situation.

There is a distant rumbling building in the background of the Real Estate industry in Australia due to the dominance of two websites and the fees they charge.

In the two major cases with REA and Domain prices have risen by up to 400% in the past 7 years for agents to provide this data.

From: Business2

The question Real Estate agents have to ask is are they getting 400% more leads from these websites for the 400% extra money they’re paying?

Contrary to popular belief RealEstate.com.au is probably not the biggest real estate site in Australia.

I’m willing to bet that Google is already the biggest website in Australia and that most people begin their real estate searchs at Google. Thats already the case in other countries like the U.S. and since users in Australia actually use Google more for overall searchs than they do in the U.S., I’m willing to bet that more than 50% of people begin there searchs relating to real estate on Google. (According to BRW magazine overall 76% of all searchs in Australia are done on Google.)

Sites like RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au are only big because they dominate Google and other search engine search results in Australia.

Real Estate agents pay RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au big money and these two websites use this money to strengthen their own position in Google at the expense of the Real Estate Agents own websites. By paying more money to these sites real estate agents are increasing their dependence upon them.

Whether it be though paid search or natural search results these sites are buying Google traffic cheap using Real Estate agents own money and then selling it back to Real Estate agents at a massive profit.

Ultimate Google gets most of the real estate buyer leads and sites like RealEstate.com.au are middle men to that internet traffic.

Real Estate Agents would be far better off spending more of their advertsing on boosting their own sites and brands. (Cutting out the middle man in an effective way is a proven business strategy for cutting costs and increasing profits)

How will Google Base effect RealEstate.com.au’s results in the main Google web search?

Google has already started including Google Base real estate search listings in its main Google search results for U.S. based users.

Basically if you’re sitting in front of a computer in the U.S. and you search for “los angeles real estate” two drop down menus will appear at the top of the standard Google results [Location] and [Listing Type].

Once you select these Google takes you through to the most relevant listings with thumbnail pictures, maps and links to more comprehensive info on each property.

Basically what this means is that Google Base results will ultimately feature above RealEstate.com.au etc results. More and more agents who have listed in Google Base with their own well created website will feature over the current middle man sites.

The tools Google offers for real estate agents (who have got their website set up correctly and have the appropriate training) are comprehensive and far cheaper than any other offerings (all free apart from Google AdWords).

We easily set up a website which incorporates some of the Google tools with Mortgagee Sales. And using Google Bases API it’s easy to set up a bulk upload file for Google Base which our content management system automatically creates with all the current listings.

That site had 891 unique visitors last month with zero advertising. (All from Google, Yahoo etc in the natural search rankings)

This might not sound like a lot of traffic but consider this:

RealEstate.com.au claims 3.7 million visits last month in Australia (BRW magazine). Divide this by the 8,100 agents they suggest subscribe. The answer is 457 visits per agent per month!!!

RealEstate.com.au also say the average agent spends around $650 per month according to BRW magazine - which means real estate agents are paying around $1.38 per lead. (Probably cheaper to spend it on Adwords already)

Is Google Base available in Australia and New Zealand?

Not officially but you can already start uploading your properties and maps to appear in their Google Base real estate search results.

Uploading properties individually to Google Base is easy. And most basic computer users can figure out how to use this with some playing around.

Having our content management system create a bulk upload file from our listings on Mortgagee Sales is easy and will be a real time saver.

Check out these results for Queensland.

Some people ask - “Will Google charge for the Google Base service eventually?”

It’s possible, but highly unlikely since that is not its business model in its other services. Google makes money by offering pay per click advertising. It relies on creating the audience which advertisers market to by providing access to the most relevant information possible. The best way to get the most relevant information to allow users the opportunity to submit it for free.

In short Real Estate agents will have the option of paying for a bit more exposure via adwords. How much they will pay for adwords terms will be completely decided by the market since adwords prices are determined by bidding. This is in contrast to RealEstate.com.au who decide how much they’ll charge you.

Here’s what Google says on its blog regarding this:

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.

From: Google Blog

Will Google offer its own real estate portal?

I doubt it.

Google has been probably the most proactive big internet company to promote api’s to its growing base of apps. This signals that it mainly wants other people and companies to create sites and apps to distribute their services to the masses.

More importantly with Google Base they can just plug their results and information into their main Web Search.

Meanwhile James Packers PBL and Microsoft have come up with a controversial alternative offering but clearly this model of business will soon be dead. Either RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au will have to somehow evolve or their businesses may die with this model too.

Call me on 040 387 5381 to learn how to take best advantage of this new service.