07 July 2009 | Author: L. Sutherland News Editor

Google Maps to list hot property

Never one to miss a trick, Google has spotted the potential for listing properties on Google Maps, which has enjoyed steady popularity since its launch in 2005. The company is testing the water by rolling out a property-listing tool in Australia that will allow users to search for properties and find convenient links to the agents selling them. While Google Maps was already providing some property listings in the US, the search agency has increased the endeavour both in scale and fuction.

Google will offer a free aggregation of property listings provided by estate agents and publishers, according to Brand Republic. However, the Mountain View giant undoubtedly has an eye on a prize too - namely the ad revenue generated by other online property companies. The number of estate agent related enquiries has reportedly grown by up to 35 per cent this year, a good incentive for a savvy search company.

The initiative will be trialled in Australia with the help of the Real Estate Institute of Australia and homehound.com.au, but Google already has plans to roll it out to a range of other markets. However, a spokeswoman for Google said that it as yet has no plans to bring the service to the UK.

Google's Australian blog described the move as: "part of our commitment to bringing the most useful and relevant information to Google Maps users in Australia, and we'll keep working on this to make it even more useful over time."