The Times Online Dumps Propertyfinder.com in Favour of Globrix
August 31, 2008 by Simon Baker
In a strange decision last week, The Times Online dumped propertyfinder.com as its real estate search partner in favour of globrix.com.
Now News International, the publisher of The Times and The Times Online is a 50% owner of both propertyfinder.com and globrix.com. In fact, the other 50% owner of propertyfinder.com is the REA Group from Australia and they are 58% owned by News Corp, the owner of News International, therefore News Corp really owns 79% of propertyfinder.com and only 50% of globrix.com.
Now what makes this an even stranger decision is that propertyfinder.com is a real busines with real revenues. In the 12 months to 30 June 2008, propertyfinder.com had around GBP 10.5m in revenues. (Source: REA Group Full Year Financials)
On the other hand, globrix.com, who operates a Free to List - Pay to Upgrade Model where the listings are placed on the site for free and then agents purchase google type ads around the search results and therefore generate revenues for the business. However, a simple search of the globrix.com site reveals that they are running a significant number of google adwords on the site indicating that they might be struggling to get agents to buy their packages. The revenues for Globrix would have to be significantly less then propertyfinder.com.
Globrix and Google AdWords
Therefore the question is, why would News International dump a business that they own 79% of and that has significant revenues (and is #2 in the UK market) in favor for a business that they own only 50% of, has insignificant revenues and is probably ranked in the range of 6 - 10 in the UK market?
The other question it raises is why does News International have investments in two competing property portals? Surely in such a competitive market, you need to back one or the other to really take on rightmove.co.uk? Perhaps the real answer is that you need to merge them both to create a better competitor for rightmove.
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Simon
Hate to state the obvious, but could this be a case of money talks, even if the money is npy moving around the table. I am ware that many portals pay for syndication of content to media sites incurring a cost for the portal as exclusivity and traffic feed is recognised and valued accordingly?
[...] Presumably it will leverage its major media connections (like Frontdoor has) at some point too to help drive that awareness. In fact, that seems to be the case as Times Online recently dumped Propertyfinder in favor of Globrix. [...]
One simple reason for the backing maybe based on the fact that Globrix already seems to be very close to Rightmove in terms of the number of listings - surely this over time will mean that in terms of traffic users will gradually recognise there are only really 2 sites worth looking at Rightmove and Globrix. Propertyfinder seems to have 1/3 or less of the listings in my area (Sussex).
There could be a simple reason for the Times “backing” Globrix -
PropertyFinder has a brand that is already built and is making significant revenue so why not bolster my new acquisition, Globrix?
I don’t think combining the two will create any additional value. Daily Mail seems to believe in the idea of a multi-brand strategy but I think Murdoch should take both products and extend reach and revenue as much as possible, especially during the down-turn. It’s well known that being in the print media grows brand, but it does not grow internet traffic. So simply put, Propertyfinder has brand and revenue so therefore doesn’t need ‘print help’ in that regard. Globrix, however, does not have revenue or traffic so it’s time to invest in my other property play by putting them into my ‘print’ machine.
Then I’ve won on both my bets. So says Murdoch. Perhaps.
Another reason is undoubtedly the superior search technology deployed on Globrix - which happens to the same platform used by Times Online. Type in a natural language query such as:
2 bedroom with gym isle of dogs
The results are awesome. Quick, relevant and contextual. You can’t do this sort of search on Propertyfinder. By offering the capability to search listings with free form queries Globrix allows Times Online to present the user with a simple search box that uses very little space. This in itself has to be valuable.
Things are also moving Globrix’s way. See this survey on Estate Agent Today:
http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/feature/voting/rightmove_survey
Yes the survey is great - 75% of agents say they will leave Rightmove.
They ’say’ they ill but they won’t, and they can’t. It’s just a platform for them to moan at this (delivering in the main) monopoly. So yes they need an alternative and they love Globrix, who wouldn’t? However the guys over at Globrix just don’t get it! What? I hear you cry. They understand search etc but they simply do not understand the estate agency market. They are just not talking to any agents and have no reason to as they are free to agents. They will make their money from advertising. Yet the model is so weak as there are hardly any ad spots so no one is buying them! The advertising is an afterthought by the techies there, they thought ‘oh we better now make some money for Rupert’. This weakness is demonstrated by the fact they already have Google AdWords up there. So does my little brother’s Mcfly site.