Propertyfinder name will no longer be marketed

The Propertyfinder name – the oldest of all the property portals – looks set to recede after its new owner, Zoopla, this week said it will no longer be pumping any marketing effort or investment into the brand.

One commentator, who asked not to be named, said: “If that happens, you can expect the name to die on the vine.”

Officially, there are no plans – yet – to phase out the brand.  Zoopla will keep Propertyfinder as a stand-alone brand, still searchable by consumers and still with an offering to its estate agency subscribers, but Zoopla itself will be the lead portal.

The Zoopla management had been tussling with which should be their number one brand – Zoopla or Propertyfinder – but have now made their decision.

All Zoopla’s portals (Zoopla, Thinkproperty, Hot Property and Propertyfinder) while keeping their own identities, will operate from the Zoopla platform. It means that while consumers will not be aware of it, inquiries to, say, Propertyfinder, will all be directed to Zoopla.

It is understood that all the Zoopla portals will now be wrapped up into one for the purposes of Comscore and Nielsen rating purposes.

Zoopla chief exective Alex Chesterman confirmed: “We will not be marketing any other brand than Zoopla.”

The marketing of Zoopla itself will be dramatically increased from November onwards.

Propertyfinder agents will be able to continue using the site as before, and Chesterman said there is still a huge level of loyalty to the name. Propertyfinder was founded by the Leeming brothers in the mid-nineties, and Nick Leeming is still with the business.

It will not be the first time that the Propertyfinder has looked set to dip under the radar.

After it was first sold, to Asserta, it was kept going as a brand but Asserta took the lead. Propertyfinder was dusted off as the sole brand when Asserta decided that its own brand was the wrong one.

Agent members will now be able to choose to pay either a fixed monthly subscription or on pay-per-lead to Zoopla.

Chesterman said: “It is our intention to be the most efficient marketing partner for UK estate agents and provide them with the widest possible exposure and best value online marketing services.”