Search engine Google has made a deal with the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana to offer real time share prices free of charge. The agreement will give Google users around the world access to previously unavailable real-time ‘last trade price’ data. It is the first deal of its kind and means that individual private investors ( or retail investors ) can now trade shares with up to the minute information on share prices. “This partnership between LSEG and Google is great news for retail investors across the globe. For the first time Google users will have access to free, real-time last-trade prices, allowing them to make more informed investment decisions,” said Jarod Hillman, Head of Real-Time Data at the London Stock Exchange Group ( LSEG ).

No details of the value of the deal have been released by any of the involved parties. The move is part of what Google terms an ongoing commitment to providing free financial information. “The addition of real-time quotes from the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana will enable our users to better monitor market changes, manage their portfolios and track economic and financial developments in Europe,” said Maxim Edelman of Strategic Partnerships at Google.

The London Stock Exchange Group operates a range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including the London Stock Exchange and the Borsa Italiana. The Group is also home to a world index provider FTSE, which creates and manages of over 200,000 equity, bond and alternative asset class indices. The LSEG is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and employs around 1,850 people.

Google started as a student research project in1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, California. The Google domain name was registered in 1997 and the company was incorporated in 1998. Google's eagerly awaited initial public offering (IPO) was in 2004, and remains one of the biggest ever hi tech IPOs. Google Finance was launched 2006.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com