Nestoria grew its unique user base through the Google Maps API.

Nestoria.co.uk is a UK property search engine that launched in the summer of 2006. With just three developers and word of mouth, they've been able to grow to 150,000 unique users a month in a highly competitive market. Much of their success can be attributed to their innovative use of the Google Maps API, says Nestoria co-founder Ed Freyfogle.

Beyond just geo-locating real estate listings, Nestoria added important location features such as schools, train stations, and hospitals to enhance the property searching experience. "Google's Map API allowed developers like Nestoria create compelling and intuitive real estate search experiences," says Joel Burslem, real estate blogger (futureofrealestatemarketing.com), "Being able to see real estate in its proper geographic context gave Internet home buyers a rich, natural feature that was, up until that point, missing." Burslem observes that Nestoria rode the wave of "real estate 2.0" to give their clients the information they needed in a single, convenient interaction."

Freyfogle also attributes Google Maps in some of the company's speed of movement. "There's a great community of online geography projects in the UK. Combining that with the global development community around Google Maps has been how we've been able to move so quickly." The company keeps an active blog, blog.nestoria.co.uk, to maintain its relationships with the global developer community... a community which has been key in reshaping the real estate industry.

About Google Maps API

The Google Maps API lets you embed Google Maps in your own web pages with JavaScript. You can add overlays to the map (including markers and polylines) and display shadowed "info windows." The Maps API is a free beta service, available for any web site that is free to consumers. For more information, visit http://www.google.com/apis/maps/.



"Google Maps are a critical piece of our product - they're not a "nice-to-have," but a "must-have."
Ed Freyfogle
Nestoria co-founder

"I've often referred to the moment Google released its Maps API as the flashpoint for the real estate 2.0 revolution."
Joel Burslem
real estate industry blogger