Zillow is fast working on becoming the DE facto portal for the online industry. Their latest stab at online dominance is partnering with the 282 newspapers to provide the online listing information and other housing information online. This is a wise move for Zillow as it will further brand the portal in the minds of buyers and sellers as the place to start the real estate sales process online.

What these newspapers give up is their dominant position in the online world for real estate in their local markets.  With an estimated 80 percent of home searches started online,  very few people are looking in the newspapers for real estate information these days. The pressure to use newspaper classified advertising comes mainly from sellers wanting it as part of the marketing package, not the agents as it is lost dollars due to the utter ineffectiveness of newspaper marketing in selling a home.

So  even as Zillow will be a player in a declining market now, they will be sucking the last vestiges of life out of the market for their partner newspapers. One of the benefits for  the newspapers is that when people do a Google search for real estate in their local market, they do fairly well. Now they have essentially co-opted their search engine optimization to Zillow and taken themselves out of the online market even further.

Instead of holding the top position for real estate searches online in their local markets and generating traffic and advertising revenue the newspapers  will now see Zillow as the top position on Google diverting traffic from their sites. With Zillow developing their brand as they have and the local newspaper giving up their dominant position, all they will see is declining online traffic to match their declining readership in the real estate niche.

Just another reason for real estate agents to tell their clients that they will not pay the high advertising fees to be in a newspaper and just go to  Zillow directly. Which I am sure in Zillow’s long term plan.

Is it time for the evil cackle to be heard coming out of Seattle?

Eleven newspapers companies are involved in this partnership, which is an extension of the Yahoo alliance. The companies are the following: Hearst Newspapers, Lee Enterprises, Media General, MediaNews Group, Morris Communications, Paddock Publications, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, E.W. Scripps, Times-Shamrock Communications, Journal Register Co., and the Day Publishing Co.

“We are honored that this consortium of newspaper companies has chosen Zillow as the partner to fast-track their presence in the digital real estate world,” Lloyd Frink, president of Zillow, said in a statement. “Research shows that 80% of home buyers use the Internet in the home-buying process.” via Editor and Publisher

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4. The War Between Online Real Estate Information and The MLS
5. The Real Estate Agent Morphs From Salesperson to Consultant