tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post112256747629522876..comments2024-03-29T05:14:10.903-07:00Comments on Geeking with Greg: Google and classified advertisingGreg Lindenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09216403000599463072noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-1122612172767211342005-07-28T21:42:00.000-07:002005-07-28T21:42:00.000-07:00Hi, Ben. It's a good point. The traditional, luc...Hi, Ben. It's a good point. The traditional, lucrative 6% commission for real estate agents is under pressure from information services available on the Web. It does seem like an industry ripe for disruption.Greg Lindenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09216403000599463072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-1122603279052232702005-07-28T19:14:00.000-07:002005-07-28T19:14:00.000-07:00Great points Greg. t makes you realise it's not ju...Great points Greg. t makes you realise it's not just recruiters (or employment classifieds salespeople on commission;) who have to worry - What about that agent (or local newspaper realestate media sales exec :) down the street that sold your house - or did he really sell it ? Did he just take a couple % points, place an ad (which he places a marketing services margin on), runs an auction if a proactive buyer doesn't search craigslist, contact him and make an offer. Yes, its getting closer to disintermediating the real estate agent and while the local newspaper for real estate isnt dead : There is a shift going on when a newspaper property ad, will be a premium 'addition' to a property sale campaign for buyers that that have already optimised their online campaign. This will affect the economics of the property business.<BR/><BR/>By disintermediating I mean making a 'frictionless' sales process for buyer and seller, thus allowing a cheaper selling price, and thus decrease in total revenue for laggard realtors. Like all classified category plays, stage 1 happened mid-late 90's with a replication of newspapers but online and with pictures. Stage 2 is more local meta-aggregated free listings orientated (eg oodle.com) with the controlling value chain player being the realtor. However, their greed (plus sheer relative weight of emails and calls vs spend vs newspapers) drives them to use online more and more, churning their print spend. Before long (its almost there now) the realtor cant live without the online leads. The online business in stage 3 then increases the price dramatically. Sellers, then realising what the realtor really does (just as they did to the newspaper in the stage before), have the choice of bypassing the agent by using an end-end selling service 'linkedin meets oodle.com meets cafepress.com for real estate' (they deliver a board to put outside your house, the copy for which you build online like an adsense ad) - as well as manage your online selling campaign like a CPC search adsense campaign. (with a post-click behaviorial tracking engine of interested buyers - like a recruitment tracking app)<BR/><BR/>Are you thinking of applying your learnings in Findory, personalisation, news and contextual marketing to real estate classifieds Greg ?<BR/><BR/>http://benbarren.blogspot.comredbarrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02704855809119083457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-1122577445397282832005-07-28T12:04:00.000-07:002005-07-28T12:04:00.000-07:00That's interesting stuff... I'm not surprised to h...That's interesting stuff... I'm not surprised to hear that newspaper classifieds are taking a hit. I've been using Google to get people to my real estate blog for a while now, and initially, Google Ads were providing at least half of the people that would show up to Rain City Guide... <BR/><BR/>On a related note... most agents are still providing such generic content on their websites that I don't think they will benefit from additional google ads.Dustin Lutherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17175717262610565908noreply@blogger.com