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Business
Location is everything in the real estate business, where online listings need to lure customers to generate interest and drive sales leads. The REA Group is one of the world's largest providers of online real estate listings. The company works with leading real estate agents around the world -- providing effective online advertising solutions that help sell properties and win new listings. It started with its flagship portal realestate.com.au in Australia and now oversees 18 web portals and operations in 12 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.
Challenge
The company is keenly aware of the need to embrace new technology: property seekers and casual web visitors expect to see as much information as possible about a property and its environs before deciding to contact a sales agent. From the beginning, REA Group CEO Simon Baker and his colleagues realized that their portals would need to offer powerful mapping features to motivate prospects by keeping them on the site.
With so many of its sites operating throughout the world, the company needed a single standardized solution that would perform on all browsers throughout all its countries. The ideal technology would integrate flawlessly with each web portal, bringing an easy-to-use and flexible interface to the REA Group's international base of realtors and clients.
Initially, realestate.com.au used a mapping technology that was slow to load. Key features, such as zoom in/out, didn't quite work either, and map coordinates failed to plot accurately. "We knew we needed to provide an array of attractive geographical features that customers worldwide would find easy to use, and that would work as advertised," recalls Baker.
Solution
Housing priorities differ from country to country, as do expectations of realtors and customers. But regardless of location, Baker notes, everyone wants to access detailed property information. "Even casual viewers want to review comparable properties for sale simply to get a sense of what their investment is worth," he notes.
The company and its flagship website, realestate.com.au, now have adopted a sophisticated mapping solution. The REA Group chose the Google Maps API Premier, allowing the company to embed Google Maps into its web portals to guide users in their search for the perfect home by giving them fast, detailed, visually rich geographical data.
The REA Group first added Google Maps API Premier to realestate.com.au, which is now enjoying a steady boost in traffic and sales leads. Recently, the firm brought Google Maps functionality to propertyfinder.com in the UK and to athome.lu in Luxembourg, and plans to roll out the mapping solution to all the rest of its websites.
Results
Annually, the firm serves up 1.5 billion maps via its property-search web portals, making it one of the largest map providers in the world.
"Our mapping solution is crucial because we get so many requests for maps," says CIO Chris Vulovic. "Google Maps API Premier gave us robust, standardized mapping capabilities and also made it easy for us to integrate further enhancements to our site, like performing structured or geographic searches." Another popular site amenity is the Google Search bar that appears on the company's Australian portal, allowing visitors to look for nearby cafes, theatres, and other businesses.
On the horizon, REA plans to introduce more flexible options by offering "heat" overlays. Users can select a specific region to review, click on the map of the area, and drill down to see more detailed information on the location. "With Google Maps API Premier, we're able to give users a preference in how they wish to display their property-search results," says Baker.
By offering the advanced functionality of Google Maps for Enterprise, the company has enjoyed increased popularity among new and loyal visitors, along with enhanced brand awareness. On the Australian site alone, agents have realized a substantial lift in the volume and quality of customers.
"With the mapping technology from Google, we're able to enhance the user experience, increase site stickiness, and improve the quality and accuracy of the data being displayed," says Baker.
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