Jr.PeeWees’s Weblog

There’s been a ton of Web chatter about Google’s OpenSocial announcement last week and what it means for companies and consumers everywhere. What’s the real estate angle? There have been a number of real estate bloggers taking a look at that question and coming up with valuable insight. Check these links:

-Google’s OpenSocial and the future of MLS (1000Watt Blog)
-Google’s OpenSocial and what it means for real estate (Future of Real Estate Marketing)
-What does OpenSocial mean to real estate? (GeekEstate Blog)

Brian Boero’s assessment at 1000Watt Blog is particularly interesting in that he sees the potential more in NAR’s and the MLS’ court. He writes today:

“But what if NAR ceased conjuring a fantastical “gateway” that will take years to build and created a series of APIs — children of RETS, if you will – that enabled vendors and MLS organizations themselves to inject simple applications into Web-based MLS systems?

“Rather than drawing yet another circle around the outside of the listings world, why not create new pathways into it and let a thousand flowers bloom, as they say?”

Any broker would tell you that for every thousand things that are right about the MLS and that work, there are a thousand things that are wrong and cause much angst, especially when it comes to technology and data flow.

Opening up MLSs is an interesting concept that could prove to work toward a more functional marketplace for brokers. Real progress versus the fragmentation that occurs as developers routinely attempt to rebuild the whole concept of a listings marketplace online.