Boston, MA 05/02/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Competition in the real estate information industry has never been fierce. Besides common institutional investors as is the case with Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) and rival Redfin that attracted Tiger Global to their businesses, the rest is competition where the companies do not see eye to eye with one another in some cases. If it is not about lawsuits against employee poaching, it is a conflict about listing design and style and so on that is considered infringement.
The differences between Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) and its peers have just moved a notch higher with the company attracting more than 1,000 brokers to its side and still counting.
Information exchange program
The business of Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) is mainly about offering comprehensive real estate information to help with all stages of real estate deals such as renting, buying, selling and remodeling. As such, the company needs to provide fresh information in almost real-time basis as competition in the real estate information service heats up.
Therefore, to edge closer to providing almost real-time information, the company has entered an exchange program with real estate brokers. The program is such that brokers provide direct feeds to the company’s online portal that ensures that users can get fresh and comprehensive information in almost five minutes internal. In exchange for the direct feeds, the company provides business promotion service to the brokers by allowing placement of logo and linkbacks to their own listings. Moreover, the company allows brokers access to its contact management platform.
Expanding direct feed program
Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) intends to bring more brokers on board to enrich its direct feed program. Though entering arrangement with brokers for direct feeds is almost commonplace in the real estate information service market, Zillow’s exchange program encourages brokers to come to its network as it is a win-win situation. The company expects to attract more brokers and even big names in the real estate industry to not only enrich its service, but also elevate its standing in the market.
