Online real estate today

Online Real Estate

The $100 Million Question

Why is News Corp interested in buying a website about real estate?

Confidential Slide 1 of 14 Copyright © Peter Scheffer 2005

Recently in the news is the success of Google’s advertisingprogram –

“After it outsells every newspaper, magazine, and TV network in advertising this year, one analyst thinks [Google’s] revenue could hit $9.5 billion next year.” *

“If Google does $9.5 billion in ads next year, it would rank behind Viacom, News Corp, and the Walt Disney Company in ad sales. Think of it as CBS, Fox, ABC, then Google. Followed by NBC and AOL.” *

News Corp has finally conceded that online media is the future ofadvertising.

The likes of realestate.com.au draws around 1 million hitsper month.

* Source: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20051031GoogleToSellOver6BillionInAds.html

The Answer: Advertising Revenue

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How good is realestate.com.au?

realestate.com.au is the leading website in Australia for

searching and researching real estate.

If realestate.com.au hopes to remain the leading online

real estate website, there are many important stakeholders

it must satisfy.

Primarily, it must satisfy its users.

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Main Search Page

• Good site structure and simple interface

Intuitive tabbed context menu

Simple search interface

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Main Search Page

• Out-of-context links on page• Advertising clutter instead of well thought out content

Links are out of context

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Follow this link to another site

Satellite Service Providers

• “30 second valuation” takes the user away from site• Service is long-winded with slow turn-around time• Short answer should be available• Detailed report offering should be recommended

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Advanced Search Criteria

• Applying basic search criteria fails to produce results• Inadequate range of search criteria• Lack of user education for search criteria

A search for real estate in St.Kilda East turns up empty dueto the criteria that the Minimum Land Size is 1m2.

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Advanced Search Criteria

• Removing the search criteria produces results• All properties affected• realestate.com.au should advocate supply of information

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Finishing the Search

• End of research

• Lack of options

• Limited capacity

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Finishing the Search

• Property research is unintuitive

• Research material is in incorrect format

• Property research depth is lacklustre

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Finishing the Search

• Low quality presentation

• Cramped page content

• Essential information is displaced

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Finishing the Search

Here is a more typical resolution, showing the property presentation as most users would see it.

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Conclusion

• Real Estate on the Internet has a big future in Australia.

• realestate.com.au is an amateur website, one that uses advertising methods from the last century.

• realestate.com.au’s only competitive advantage is its brand.

• now is the appropriate time to capture the online real estate market in Australia.

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The Future

“What should online real estate offer?”

“What would online real estate be in a perfect world?”

What is needed is a good business system that appeals to the real estate agencies, the property vendors, the service providers and the buyers.

Confidential Slide 14 of 14 Copyright © Peter Scheffer 2005