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Media Firms vs. Google in Real Estate Listings Brawl

In a sign of what could be ahead in the U.S., two of Google's largest media customers in Australia are threatening to pull their ads from Google because it is entering the real-estate listings market.

Fairfax Media and News Limited may pull the millions they collectively spend on buying key search terms on Google following the latter's decision to list properties for sale on Google Maps. The two media companies dominate the market for properties being searched for on the Internet and the $144 million of classified advertising revenue that goes with it.

Google sources property listings from real estate aggregators and recently began allowing real estate agents to list their properties free on Google Maps. Greg Ellis, an executive at News Limited, says, "It will be interesting to see how Google reconciles its practice of encouraging companies to purchase Adwords, Google Maps and DoubleClick services and then compete with those companies who buy those services."

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Read the whole story at Sydney Morning Herald »

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