When Zillow announced last year that they were acquiring Trulia, some real estate professionals rejoiced, others rolled their eyes, and the remaining group rejected the idea. Since the acquisition has been completed, the only real industry change has been that there are two horses in the race now instead of three. The flow and use of data continues to be debated by the industry, as illustrated by the recent reactions to Zillow’s acquisition of DotLoop.
But in an email acquired by The Real Daily, we’ve learned of something Zillow plans to do that could not only help their offering, but improve real estate agents’ presence on their two media properties. A sales rep told a Realtor, “Reviews and past sales will be integrated across Trulia and Zillow once our integration is complete in the mean time we can help add them.”
Why this move is relevant
This cross-pollenation may sound like a small, insignificant move, but consider this: let’s say you’re in a market dominated by Zillow and you have amazing reviews from your customers there, but you look pretty weak over on Trulia, yet it’s owned by the same company. No problem, they’ll be consolidated and added in the future.
Imagine you’re a boot crafter and your boots have been reviewed in the boot section of Nordstrom, but are not accessible on the main page of the site, even if your boots are featured. Customers don’t know they need to go to a specific part of the site to see that you’ve had hundreds of happy customers with rave reviews.
Conspiracy theories at an all-time high
They deserve recognition for this simple move, because they don’t have to make it, and it will help their advertising users (Realtors) and more importantly, consumers. They’ll have to devote staff and resources to this integration, and it will be worth it.
Sensitivities toward Zillow are at an all-time high and conspiracy theories are rampant (some merited, others not, as we’ve covered previously), but when a company does something positive, no matter your feelings toward them, it should be recognized.
Maybe some day, this data will be cross-pollenated between rivals Zillow and realtor.com, what do you think?
#ZillowReviews
Lani is the COO and News Director at The American Genius, has co-authored a book, co-founded BASHH, Austin Digital Jobs, Remote Digital Jobs, and is a seasoned business writer and editorialist with a penchant for the irreverent.
