Google is diving further into real estate, as Realogy Corporation and 1stOnlineRealty.com have announced that Google and real-estate search engine Trulia will host real estate listings from their Internet solutions. Realogy's holdings include well-known realty brands Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA. 1stOnlineRealty.com MLS solutions are used at high-end local and regional on-line brokerages, including the popular TexasGulfCoastOnline.com site.

Those shopping for a new home or condo can attest that looking for a home online can be a frustrating experience, due in part to the fact that listings are not concentrated in a single place. According to comScore, Google handled 58 percent of all real estate searches conducted online as of November 2006. Given its position as the undisputed king of the search hill, making sure your listings are available on Google makes good business sense.

On Google, Realogy's and 1stOnline's real estate listings will be accessible via Google Base. Launched in October 2005 and still in beta, Google Base is a searchable database populated by users. When it launched, we speculated that Google was targeting the likes of eBay and Craigslist by allowing users to upload items for sale; today's announcement marks another step in that direction. Google Base will now be populated with real estate listings from three of the largest realtor brands, making Google more of a go-to site for real estate searches. Realogy's and 1stOnlineRealty's move may force its competitors to also embrace Google. Otherwise, they run the risk of having their listings go unsearched as users find plenty of interesting homes without having to leave Google.