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The online mapping arms race couldn't have come at a better time for real estate. As property markets cool off, and those in the business look for new ways to impress clients, Microsoft and Google keep one-upping each other with free applications that look good on home pages. Want to target property buyers who love the Austin, Texas music scene? Try creating a map/video mashup of hot performance venues in residential areas. Far-fetched ideas like that can see the light of day at little or no cost, and potentially help Realtors gain a foothold in new markets, thanks to mapping's new accessibility.

Real Estate Webmasters forum member Roldan Aquino has the latest real estate mashup hotspot at Gootube.net. Copping the nickname for post-YouTube Google,…

In a recent tutorial on what not to do when creating website content, Google guru Adam Lasnik chose to single out real estate sites. All blame and potential unpleasantness aside, Lasnik answered a question I've been thinking about for a while: How closely is Google watching the real estate web community? The answer now seems to be, "Okay, you wanted our attention - you got it."

Lasnik was actually just trying to be helpful, not passive aggressive. His post was for those of us hardworking, honest webmasters who still can't seem to avoid tripping up Google's nebulous Duplicate Content algorithm from time to time. He wrote,

"Users don't like seeing "empty" pages, so avoid placeholders where possible. This means not publishing…