So while we're celebrating the marriage of Zillow and user-input to create a virtual "for sale" sign, we're also getting some inklings of what Google plans to do in the realm of real estate. The Silicon Valley gigantor's first foray into the listing game is a partnership with the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) to upload data from the HAR MLS onto Google Base, a searchable database launched last year. Via the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal:
While Google has been courting multiple listing services across the country for months, the Houston deal appears to be the first to be made public. Historically tight-lipped, Google confirmed the deal but would offer no details.
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The firm has spent months recruiting MLS systems nationwide to upload local data onto Google Base. The 25,500-member HAR has been a leader in online home listings. "As far as I know, we're the first association in the country to put all of our listings on Google," says Bob Hale, HAR's president and CEO.
The article notes that many realtor types still remain skeptical of Google and other internet listings, such as Zillow and Trulia, or anything that threatens to remove more information from their cold, dead hands.
· Google to post Realtor MLS data, but not from its home turf [SV/SJ Business Journal via NJ.com]