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Property portals shrug off Google threat

04 December 2009
Written by rosalind renshaw

So, what do the other property portals think of Google’s challenge to their market?

All seem remarkably laid-back.

Daniel Lee, of Globrix, which he and his business partner now wholly own after buying out News International this week, said: “We have been aware of Google’s potential entry into the UK market for a long time as they have already launched in the US and Australia.

“I think it is exciting for the industry to have another entrant into the market and hopefully their business model will make agents more aware of the power of the internet and that the traditional portals are not the only way to generate business.

“Notwithstanding that, their success overseas has been very limited and Google is not synonymous with property search in the UK and so I cannot see a big change in the portal landscape overnight.

“Google is a great search engine but it has already demonstrated that it cannot compete and win in every business sector.”

Alex Chesterman, chief executive of Zoopla, said: “Google is an extremely important start point in the consumer web journey and therefore we watch with great interest anything they do. Google helps online users find relevant content and Zoopla is the UK’s leading property market resource, combining property listings together with current home values, sold house prices, local information and a variety of tools to help consumers make better property decisions. 

“Google is a key partner in our business today with its free search results and paid search ads, and far from seeing their entry into the property space as a threat, we believe it provides an opportunity to generate even greater levels of traffic to our content and more exposure and leads for our member agents.”

Niche player Dominic Toller, managing director of PropertyEarth.net, a portal for chain-free and repossession properties, said: “It is interesting how quickly the portal market continues to change. The entrance of Google into the UK property portal market will threaten the hold of Rightmove and the large whole of market portals, but shouldn’t affect the smaller, more specialised providers.

“Smaller portals serving dedicated markets will still have a place under the introduction of this new technology.”

Comments

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    The articles this week are all about RM & Google, is everyone on here who disagrees with you a RM employee?

    • 04 December 2009 22:00 PM
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    Brian is right about me old COCK a Sparra and as I have mentioned before AceOfSpades has shown his hand too many times and cannot bluff any more he is obviously a colleague of Sparrows.Or so a little birdy told me!

    • 04 December 2009 17:30 PM
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    If Rightmove (in fact any portal) are clever then they will simply do a deal with Google to feed all their agents' properties into Google Base (preferably without passing on costs to agents.) This would be simple for Rightmove to do, Google would achieve a critical mass very rapidly and it would be a win-win situation, for agents especially. If Rightmove weren't speaking to Google I'd be surprised (although maybe Rightmove are too arrogant/ ignorant.)

    • 04 December 2009 17:25 PM
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    It is irrelevant if Captain Sparrow is RightMove or not.... he has raised a very good point.

    Simon Baker - Google aren't going to deliver some half-hearted model to the market. They have great sources and a big pile of money to ensure that they deliver a product that works.

    • 04 December 2009 15:14 PM
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    Chris me old Sparrow- RM employee of course, see his rants where ever RM mentioned- too obvious mate!

    • 04 December 2009 11:38 AM
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    The only Portals at risk here are everyone EXCEPT Rightmove - the public search on Google for "Rightmove" so they won't be effected, it's the smaller sites who get traffic from searches like "Property for sale in [Location]" that are going to feel the pinch. Sites like Findaproperty, Primelocation, Globrix and Nestoria are all going to feel the pinch as they haven't the brand strength.

    • 04 December 2009 10:33 AM
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    Propertyportalwatch.com has been tracking the progress of Google's foray into the online real estate game since its launch in Australia in July this year.

    As with the UK, many predicted the down fall of the incumbents. However since then, realestate.com.au has gone from strength to strength with traffic up from 4.6m UB's to 5.4m and its market cap increasing 53% to AUD$1.07bn.

    For Google to be successful, it has to overcome a number of hurdles:
    1) Aggregating enough listings to be relevant
    2) Ensuring the the listings are of high quality
    3) Making the site user friendly - maps arent always
    4) Driving traffic to their maps section - it is not promoted on the main search
    5) Finding a way to monetise it without losing existing revenue streams
    6) They have to drive leads not just clicks

    Suffice to say, Mark Twain was right, "the news of my death has been greatly exaggerated"

    For more thoughts on Google, check out www.propertyportalwatch.com

    • 04 December 2009 10:21 AM
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