Another failed service for Google today, as it drops Google Maps real estate on the pile of failures along with Google Wave, Google Video, Google Web Accelerator… the list goes on. Will Google’s losing streak never end?
Google real estate let you find properties for sale or for rent directly through Google Maps. It was launched in July 2009, and made it into five territories: Japan, America, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Google said in an official Google blog: “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 (used by listing providers to submit listings), we’ve decided to discontinue the real estate feature within Google Maps on February 10, 2011.”
This is the latest in a string of experiments that have been dropped. The last to go was Google Wave, which seemed like a genius idea when it launched, and promised much, but when it arrived, nobody could quite work it into their daily needs. That’s not the case with Google real estate – this has been usurped by better services with better access and more functions.
What will Google retire next? Shout out with what your money’s on in the comments!
