Google Maps to discontinue its real estate feature

Since the summer of 2009, people planning on moving to a new destination have been able to find a property for sale or rent from the comfort of their homes by visiting Google Maps. But as of February 10, movers will have to resort to alternatives search methods.

Starting next week, Google Maps will discontinue users' ability to search for homes on their website, citing various reasons.

"In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API, we've decided to discontinue the real estate feature within Google Maps on February 10, 2011," said Google Earth and Maps vice president, Brian McClendon.

McClendon went on to say that the website's real estate feature won't be discontinued entirely, as real estate companies will still be able to connect with people looking for homes by accessing their Google for real estate professionals site.

Google aside, the internet has revolutionized the real estate market. Instead of going through real estate firms, many buyers and sellers have used the web as their primary vehicle to buy, sell or search for a home.
 

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