Google has added a real estate filter to Google Maps, enabling searchers to look for listings directly via Google. This means that users can not only search for listings directly from Google, but also look at homes and surrounding neighborhood using Google’s Street View.

While this is not a game changer in and of itself, due to the lack of data Google has to work with in showing listings, it is yet another stark warning to the major players in real estate search that Google can step in at any point in time change the world of real estate search as we know it. Once the data problem is solved and Google makes a serious commitment to throw its hat in the ring, there is little that the major players in real estate search today will be able to do stop the intense erosion in market share that will inevitably occur virtually overnight.

At this point this is Google’s world and we just live in it, so if your business model relies purely on search or data aggregation, your model can be rendered meaningless overnight if you cross paths with the big G. The only consolation to the existing real estate search players is that Google is already very busy with other projects and its non-stop push to scale globally.

Related posts:

1. Google PageRank Update and Slow Google Reader and Search Times
2. HVCC: How It May Negatively Affect and Change Real Estate as We Know It

Google PR (PageRank) updates are under way. Oddly enough, the update seems to be affecting Google Search and Google Reader….. I’ve had problems loading and updating Google Reader all morning and I’ve had up to 30 second delays in loading the Google home page….. very odd, but comes with the territory I guess.

PageRank Forumla = PR(A) = (1-d) + d(PR(t1)/C(t1) + … + PR(tn)/C(tn))

PageRank is often misunderstood like all things SEO and SEM related. To keep things complicated, read this primer. To keep things simple, PageRank uses a logarithmic scale and is based primarily on incoming links. In plain speak, this means that if PR were on a point scale and moving from PR1 to PR2 took “10 Points”, then moving moving from PR2 to PR3 might take “200 points” and moving from PR3 to PR4 might take “1500 Points” and moving from PR4 to PR5 might take “9500 points”. I think you get the idea, while my points system is just nonsense I’ve made up, the point is that each move upwards in PR becomes exponentially harder.

What does PageRank mean to you? Well for starters, PageRank does not guarantee high search engine rankings. PR is more of a qualitative measure of a site, but does not translate into directly higher rankings, although there is no reason why a site with high PR shouldn’t rank well also.

Well it’s perfectly normal to get excited as you watch your PR grow. The truth is that I’ve had sites that I’ve put no effort in building links to become PR4. While PR5 is definitely respectable, I think PR6 is a real accomplishment and requires a real sustained effort, most blogs will never become a PR6.

At the end of the day you can NEVER go wrong focusing on publishing high quality content that others find useful. If you do, people will link to you, you will rank well and eventually your PR will follow. PR is a lagging indicator, so don’t put the horse in front of the cart!