• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 7, 2009

Google has improved its real estate search capabilities on Google Maps, a feature that lets people search for sale and rental property listings on its mapping service.

The tool enables real-estate agents and publishers to upload listings into Google's database and allows buyers to link directly to property and rental listings. It allows people to search on houses in the market, as well as nearby schools, restaurants, and public transportation. It also offers a Street View to check out the neighborhood before you get there. Search on "homes for sale in Los Angeles" in Google Maps and get a boatload of dots that signify the property listings in the area.

Markers on Google Maps now show the ten most relevant listings with pins, as well as a small circle on every other listing in that area using the search results layer. Clicking on a marker and each small circle provides more details about the property. This aims to give searchers a better idea of the distribution of properties for sale, Andrew Foster writes in the blog post.

People also can map out their day by finding directions between properties. Previously, people using the search tool had to specify "real estate" from the search options menu. Individual homeowners trying to sell their property can create small microsites and advertise the sale via paid search, too, according to a Google spokesperson.

Mike Blumenthal, partner at Blumenthal.com, Olean, N.Y., calls the change "incremental" -- and until the listings land on the first page of the search engine query results, also known as SERPs, it will not have a big impact on traffic. "The main SERPs generate a quarter of all real estate traffic," he says. "It's indicative of Google wanting to get into real estate, but at the moment the tool is buried deep in Maps."

Hitwise data reveals that last week Google Maps sent 2% of its U.S. traffic to Web sites in the Real Estate industry, making it the No. 19 downstream industry, among more than 160. The research firm notes that Yahoo Real Estate, Realtor.com and Trulia.com account for a larger volume of traffic to real estate listings than did Google Maps.

Google also expanded the feature to cover real estate in Australia and New Zealand for rent and sale properties, in case you're looking.