OTM "struggling for audience" claims Zoopla

In the latest exchange in the long-running war of words between Zoopla and OnTheMarket, ZPG claims that the new portal is “struggling to establish any meaningful audience levels.”

ZPG communications chief Lawrence Hall says that three months after the launch of OnTheMarket - “and despite bold predictions and noisy PR” - data from independent internet monitor Hitwise shows that the new portal’s traffic fell by 13.5 per cent in April. 

Hall says that even using OTM’s recently released internal data claiming 3.5m visits in April and 10m visits since its launch in late January, the conclusion is that the new portal is suffering falling or static traffic. 

“During the period since the launch of OTM, ZPG has enjoyed a monthly average of over 46m visits versus just over 3m for OTM” he says.

Zoopla claims that based on publicly available traffic data, membership rates, inventory levels and average lead conversion rates, the average cost per lead for OTM agents is estimated to be in over £50 compared to an average of less than £3 for ZPG members.

This is “making OTM the most costly and least effective marketing channel in UK property portal history” Zoopla states.

“OTM needs to grow its audience very substantially and quickly to get anywhere near its prediction of catching ZPG by the end of the year. Latest data from both Hitwise and OTM itself shows that this is simply not realistic. In the meantime, charging its members a more realistic rate of around £20 per month, as ZPG did when its traffic was at similar levels, would seem fairer whilst they try to build their audience” says Hall. 

OnTheMarket chief executive Ian Springett dismissed the statement as “yet another inaccurate and speculative press release from Zoopla Property Group .... OnTheMarket is here to stay.”