A rash of property search engines
To the
untrained eye of the consumer, the functionality of real estate search
and listings sites all seem similar. The first glance differentiating
factors are ease of use, attractive design and special features. Many
of the newer search sites take their cue from Google's simple query box:
The initial feedback on newly launched US version of European based DotHomes is its ease of use and speedy search results. What's under the hood of these new search engines?
DotHomes is a data aggregation search play. Its technology extracts specific fields off listings websites - # bedrooms, # bath, sq ft, price per sq ft - and displays the data on site. It also catalogs tag words - neighborhood name, probate, backyard - from the listings description to refine more detailed queries, like "san francisco pacific heights with backyard". The differential technological advantage is DotHomes' ability to "wrap" any listings website quickly and extract data deep down to the individual listing. I believe this is currently unique among search sites.
Unfortunately, DotHomes may have to deal with the screen scraping issues that Trulia also met (we know of one unhappy major brokerage who has requested DotHomes not crawl their site).
Last week, Mike Price analyzed Roost on Agent Genius, which leverages the IDX feeds from local and regional brokers to replicate MLS listings directly on Roost. By redirecting viewer traffic through their "View Details on Featured Broker Site" link to the original IDX fed listing, Roost doesn't receive the inherent SEO benefits associated with providing each listing with its own unique URL. This is what sites like Trulia and Movoto are effectively doing. Will Roost be able to leverage enough search engine ranking to distinguish itself as a viable property search engine? Gaining market share is still the biggest hurdle for these search newcomers.
Retrove is a unique vertical search engine that calls up the gamut of property search and listings sites based on a city search term and then filters the search by type of listing (MLS, online classifieds, FSBO, etc.), zip code, etc. Although comprehensive in finding real estate sites by area, Retrove still needs to refine the algorithm for returning the most appropriate search terms from over 11 million source sites. Hat tip to Jessie Beaudoin, architect of Retrove, an excellent resource on how these search engines work.
The initial feedback on newly launched US version of European based DotHomes is its ease of use and speedy search results. What's under the hood of these new search engines?
DotHomes is a data aggregation search play. Its technology extracts specific fields off listings websites - # bedrooms, # bath, sq ft, price per sq ft - and displays the data on site. It also catalogs tag words - neighborhood name, probate, backyard - from the listings description to refine more detailed queries, like "san francisco pacific heights with backyard". The differential technological advantage is DotHomes' ability to "wrap" any listings website quickly and extract data deep down to the individual listing. I believe this is currently unique among search sites.
Unfortunately, DotHomes may have to deal with the screen scraping issues that Trulia also met (we know of one unhappy major brokerage who has requested DotHomes not crawl their site).
Last week, Mike Price analyzed Roost on Agent Genius, which leverages the IDX feeds from local and regional brokers to replicate MLS listings directly on Roost. By redirecting viewer traffic through their "View Details on Featured Broker Site" link to the original IDX fed listing, Roost doesn't receive the inherent SEO benefits associated with providing each listing with its own unique URL. This is what sites like Trulia and Movoto are effectively doing. Will Roost be able to leverage enough search engine ranking to distinguish itself as a viable property search engine? Gaining market share is still the biggest hurdle for these search newcomers.
Retrove is a unique vertical search engine that calls up the gamut of property search and listings sites based on a city search term and then filters the search by type of listing (MLS, online classifieds, FSBO, etc.), zip code, etc. Although comprehensive in finding real estate sites by area, Retrove still needs to refine the algorithm for returning the most appropriate search terms from over 11 million source sites. Hat tip to Jessie Beaudoin, architect of Retrove, an excellent resource on how these search engines work.
Always interested in the latest things out there and thanks for the update.
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If a broker says "don't crawl my site" but a top online agent within the office submits their listings to the same site anyhow that would be interesting.
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Always that conflict between broker content control and agent marketing push. Bright people can see the analogies of this conflict across any industry where content has value - music, video.
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FrontDoor.com is another new one.
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Hello Pat,
Thanks for the mention. We have not “officially” launched and are still very much in beta and probably will be forever since a best of breed site should always be evolving. We are taking a very different approach to real estate search as you have noted with the belief that users want to see every type of available listing in their area in the most transparent and efficient manner possible. We are working hard on some creative solutions to address the small issue you mentioned while quickly building the most comprehensive index of real estate listing sources available on the internet today for the benefit of agents and consumers alike.
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