Not all listings are created equal ~ Sami Inkinen, truly a real estate media site salesman
Do your listings (and buyers) get a Trick or Treat in search results on a real estate media site like Trulia? Should a buyer doing a search see the best match listings first or the “featured” listings someone paid to get to the head of the line?
Sami Inkinen, Trulia COO, recently cooed:
Can you game the Trulia search results ranking?” The answer is simple: Yes – the more interesting you make your listings to consumers, the more exposure and home buyer inquiries your listings will get.
…Essentially, the cream rises to the top and the least comprehensive listings are most likely to be found on the bottom.
Sounds like a sweet treat for buyers, Sami. But is this tru? I call Bullshit!
Apparently, the best way to game real estate search, and have your listings rise to the top of search results, is to PAY for a featured listing. Featured listings are listed first and get more views (according to Trulia).
Real estate professionals know that interesting comprehensive creamy listings do not get into the club ahead of dollar hustling featured listings. Featured listings get to the front of the velvet line by slipping the line keepers a sawbuck. (unlike in real life where the best looking jump the line)
I did a little test on Trulia (Trulia means trust). Indeed, a featured listing with no photo ranked ahead of a non-featured listing with photos. Treat! Money raises your listing to the top. Not your great copywriting or creamy photos.
BUT….what about the non-featured cream of the crop ranking?
Does the “Cream” Rise to The Top on Trulia for Non-Featured Listings?
According to Sami:
We track consumer behavior religiously on our site and know what type of listings they gravitate towards in each search (hint: they like more photos!). To meet their needs, the initial search results (aka “the default ranking”) that consumers see before any custom sorting are ranked to surface the best content first. (emphasis added)
So, Sami, why does this non-featured listing with no address, and only 4 photos, rank ahead of other non-featured listings, with lower prices, and one with 9 photos?
BTW Sami, NO ONE sees the great content of a listing until they click “view details”. So, how does my hidden, property description get people to click?
I searched condos $430,000 – $500,000 (any beds or baths) and Trulia gave me this “Best Match” result— a higher priced condo, with no address, outranked lower priced condos, even those with more photos. Cream rising to the top? More like a hot load of …..
Trick?
Is it the number of photos Sami, as you hinted? Well, why was this one, with the most photos (9), listed almost at the bottom of this search result? Oh yeah, it had a lower price too.
Maybe it was the awesome description of the listing with no address that ranked it so high above the others. You Trulians really know how to rank listings buyers gravitate toward. Amazing.
See full Trick or Treat results page here. (link)
So, jump the line at Trulia and pay for featured listings and beat out those folks who have non-featured listings. Besides, your non-featured listing may get a rotten apple Best Match ranking against other non-featured listings.
See Trulia Trick or Treat Play plans here. Go for the $79 per month deal to get your contact info on the search page, dizzying virtual tours and a dedicated account manager (really? Is that a live person or a recording?)–the other plans don’t give you any of that good candy.
FTC Disclosure:
I was not given any Trulia IOU (they run lean), corporate swag or Halloween treats to promote their highly priced ranked featured listings or their crappy brilliant creamy listing algorithm.
Related Post:
Are Featured Listings Worth the Price of Admission?
preview from this post:
A featured home has no intrinsic or added value to a buyer. None, nada, zip. I don’t know who came up with the word “featured” (maybe that guy who created “certified pre-owned automobiles” to replace “used cars”), but it’s more than a tad misleading, dontcha think? Featured stuff normally involves some value, some reason to pay your money– This movie features Angelina Jolie like you’ve never seen her before. But a featured listing? Featured for what? Because someone paid to jump the ticket line? That’s NOT value to the buyer.
Technorati Tags: trulia, featured listings, real estate marketing
