The NAR and realtor.com aren’t likely to keep up with the spending, so the future of home-selling will probably be determined by who wins the war below. Zillow has already shown the killer instinct that Redfin lacks, and if they succeed in getting the most eyeballs, then agents will be forced to buy their advertising.
From geekwire.com:
Everyone loves a good rivalry, and perhaps none have been quite as fun to watch as the matchup between Seattle-based Zillow and San Francisco-based Trulia.
These two online real estate companies have been at each other’s throats for years, a fight that has resulted in litigation and plenty of bombshells back-and-forth. In many regards, Trulia has followed on the heels of Zillow, whether it has been around launching apps, new features or going public.
Now, it’s going to be fascinating to watch this play out in the advertising sphere. On Wednesday, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff announced a bold plan to spend up to $65 million on national advertising in 2014, a huge uptick from the $40 million in spent in 2013 (the first year it advertised).
Read full article here:
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/zillow-vs-trulia-get-ready-advertising-battle-epic-proportions/
As a broker if you earn a listing and put it in the mls does zillow or any other online outfit have a right to advertise that listing on their website without your permission? Or does simply inputting that listing into the mls make it public information?
Listing agents can opt out. But the benefits of wider distribution seem to be worth it.
Those who argue against say there are errors in the data and stale listings that need updating. But the biggest gripe is that the leads aren’t funneled back to the listing agent – unless they pay big money (in Zillow’s case).