Reports says media site Zillow.com and its Zillow Newspaper Consortium of 11 U.S. newspaper publishers are creating a real estate advertising network to sell ads on each others’ websites. The 11 publishers control 282 newspaper websites with 57 million monthly visitors. Zillow brings its 5 million monthly visitors to the table.
Here’s how it would work:
Both Zillow and the newspapers would sell ads to appear both on Zillow.com, targeted to specific real estate markets, and the newspaper network. Using the network, national advertisers like HomeDepot or Target can buy ad space on up to 282 websites at once, rather than cutting separate deals with each site. The ads, which may include graphics, can be placed in any part of the newspaper, not just in the real estate section.
The publishers, include Hearst Newspapers, Media General Inc., EW Scripps Co., Media General, Inc., MediaNews Group, Inc., Morris Communications Company, and Philadelphia Media Holdings. Newspapers include The Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the San Jose Mercury News.
The Consortium already has a deal with Zillow to sell real estate ads on the site.
With all these ads to distract and take visitors away, I wonder the ROI impact to brokers listing homes for sale on the site? The homes, after all, are the primary content drawing traffic to the site.
Sources and Further Reading:
Zillow, Newspapers Launch Real Estate Ad Network, Looking to Each Other’s Strengths (Washington Post)
Real estate site expands ad deal with newspapers (AP, Yahoo News)
Zillow’s new ad network desperate ploy to make sales numbers? (Valleywag. Ouch)
