Real Estate Connect: Yahoo!’s Michael Yang Explains Realogy Deal
Yahoo! last week said it is adding 700,000 listings to its real estate classifieds from Realogy, the real estate industry’s largest franchisor with brands such Century 21 (my wife’s brokerage), Coldwell Banker, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty. Realogy adds Yahoo! to a distribution list that also includes Trulia.
On its face, the Yahoo!-Realogy deal would seem to conflict with en existing, multi-year deal with Prudential. But Yahoo! GM Michael Yang, speaking at Inman’s Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, says that isn’t the case at all.
The Prudential deal “is going extremely well,” says Yang. It gives Yahoo! users the full searchability of an exclusive IDX (Internet Data Exchange) -like experience. It enables users to perform sophisticated searches as if they were Realtors.
The new Realogy deal, on the other hand, basically just adds listings to the classified database, as they would with Google Base. “There is nothing exclusive in classifieds,” says Yang. “Users have the option to look under (such categories) as ‘rentals,’ ‘MLS’ or ‘new construction.’ ” Listings will range from text base to graphical display and cost $34.95 per month.
Yang adds that Yahoo!’s classified database has been in place since 1998 and was in serious need of refreshing. “We have a brand-new team in classifieds, and three-quarters (of the personnel) are pursuing “new products,” he says. “I’m glad we worked it out with Realogy.” The deal, he adds, is a “roadmap how to collect those listings, partner-by-partner.”
Yang adds that Yahoo!’s real estate offerings might be expanded further by inclusion in the newspaper consortium partnership with the portal. “Newspapers enhance our strength in our core classified verticals.” He notes that the consortium is currently working on jobs, search and ad networks but real estate could be included in the future.
Used cars, however, were not mentioned by Yang as a consortium effort. Indeed, a Yahoo! consortium leader on the newspaper side said that it was “just wrong” to pass along other analyst reports that used cars were part of the efforts – as I did in February.