Shares in property portal Rightmove dropped 10 percent in the wake of news that Google was extending its property offerings in the U.K.
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"It will certainly blow Rightmove out of the water,” Sarah Beeny, host of Channel 4’s Property Ladder and a site owner, told the BBC. “You can only get your property listed on that site if you are an estate agent--what Google will do is level the playing field and they are doing it for free.”
Google has announced similar services in the United States and Australia, part of what many analysts see as a concerted move to become a first-stop for consumer property searches. Google allows free listings, integrated with Google maps and others services.
“If it stays free, then Google has a massive winner on its hands as it will get the backing from estate agents currently paying for rival sites," Edward Mead, sales director for Douglas & Gordon estate agents, told the Financial Times.
Rightmove, the dominant portal in the U.K., downplayed the news. “We provide visibility of brand and logo,” Ed Williams, managing director of Rightmove, told FT. “Agents are spending money on raising brand awareness, not getting more properties online.”
