Does anyone know how this works? I have read the Real Estate Help file, and I have submitted listings in the past but I will be darned if I can find them later when doing a search, using exact terms that I put in the listing, just to see if it comes up.

I use some programs (postlets, realestateshows) that claim to directly post the listings to Google Base...but how in heck do you ever find them?

Personally, my feeling is that it's just spinning your wheels. Even using a unique phrase that I specifically put into the listing, I have been totally unable to find any listings that I've submitted...I do find some of the "big name" listings from Century21.com, HarmonHomes, Weichert.com...but nothing else.

Any thoughts from anyone with experience in GoogleBase?

Perky -- As you noticed, GOOGLE is working closely with the big brokerages and franchises. Our stuff appears next day.

I'm aware of a local company that has tried to feed up listings without success. What the broker told me (based on a conversation with GOOGLE) was that they were not yet supporting individual submission. I have no direct knowledge but that is what I was told a few weeks ago.

Thanks Steve. If that is the case then they should say so on the website somehwere...but then again there'd be an outcry I suppose of favoritism or something...

Personally, I'd rather not waste me time on something that's going to do nothing for me. Weichert.com already submits our listings to places but because any leads will come thru Weichert, the lead may not necessarily go to me. All right since I have the listing side anyway...but I dont' want to do it on my own if it's not going to show up...kwim?

I think the only thing google about google Base is that your listings have the ability to show up in the area of someone searching on Google Maps in that area. Other than that, i doubt people are really searchng in there for a home. There are programs that you can search out that do automate postings in places like Google Base, Craigslist, and other places. I would just be careful with things like that. You never know who programmed it.

Aha!

I figured out how to find the google base listings!

Kinda silly, I doubt anyone does it, but I went to googlebase.com and search the address of one of my listings and it was the only thing that popped up.

I did it on regular google and got a zillion responses.

I just checked on a listing that was sydincated to Googlebase though our Point2 Agent website, the house is also under Prudential Carolina.

It shows up on the search(just using map and price)attributed to Prudential, then if the show all sources button is used, it also shows the NLS Point2 Agent website listing.

While on this train of map searches...

yahoo real estate search appears to be limited to the board that the prudential office for the area belongs to - I don't think that ANYTHING from my board shows up in Yahoo Real Estate because it's not the default board for any Prudential offices - the prudential offices showing up for my area in Yahoo are over an hour away. That office IS in our board as a member...but none of the MLS listings from my board show up.

that kind of sucks...if you don't have a prudential office on your board I guess you don't show up in Yahoo?

You must always search Google Base itself to see the listings that are posted there, because Google uses different data for the regular Google Search, and the Google Base search. The same goes with the Google Blogs Search (if you do real estate blogs this is a great place to use) and the regular Google Search, it pulls different data.

Also Google uses tons of different Data Centers so what one person will see on the Google Search results will not be what you see, below is a great link I use all the time when checking Google rankings that lets you search the Different Data Centers that google has

http://www.mcdar.net/dance/index.php