OnTheMarket has upped the ante against Rightmove, claiming that it is hiking its prices to agents while its leads are continuing to fall.

OTM has also told its member agents to beware of leaving Rightmove and RightmovePlus open on their computers, as this could count as time on site which “may be adding to Rightmove executive bonuses”.

In an email sent to member agents yesterday, OTM boss Ian Springett suggested it was also incorrect to say that most agents who had left Rightmove had quit the industry.

Rightmove’s latest results demonstrate a 4.6% year-on-year drop in agency branch members.

Rightmove had suggested that “most of the agents were low-stock low-spenders and that many had been forced to leave the industry”.

But Springett said a number were still in business, but no longer on Rightmove. He added: “We know that a fair proportion are with OnTheMarket.”

On leads sent to agents, Springett said: “Having reported enquiry numbers in every results announcement since 2013, Rightmove chose not to publish the metric in its regulatory report for the half year to June 2019.

“However, responding to a direct question from Will Packer, analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, in its webcast Q & A, Rightmove confirmed that leads had fallen 7.6% compared with H1 2018, reducing the leads total from 22m to 20.3m.

“This reduction in leads continues a trend which started in 2015 when Rightmove leads to UK advertisers peaked at 49.8m. By 2018, the number had fallen to 42m.

“For Rightmove’s UK property advertisers, the impact is significant. The average monthly leads they receive has fallen from 210 in 2015 to 168 in the first half of 2019.”

Springett claimed: “For every £100 an agent spends, Rightmove’s advertisers now receive 16 leads compared with 28 in 2015.”

He went on: “Rightmove attributed the latest substantial fall in leads to its recent action to improve lead quality – specifically, ‘asking more questions’ on the enquiry forms, which, it claims, deters the less motivated enquirers.

“A more straightforward explanation is that portals do not create enquiries and there is a finite stock of active property-seekers at any one time. Portals compete to be the channel to connect these property-seekers with the relevant agents and OnTheMarket is gaining share.”

Springett’s email to his members also said that Rightmove’s focus on ‘time on site’ is a key metric.

He said: “Every minute which agents spend on Rightmove/Rightmove Plus, including minutes when they leave it open on their computers, may be adding to Rightmove executive bonuses.

“This is because Rightmove focuses on ‘traffic market share’.

“Time on site is explicitly outlined in Rightmove’s 2018 Annual Report as a key strategic target in determining executive bonuses.”

Springett conceded that agents do spend more time on Rightmove than other portals, but said that this reflects Rightmove’s historic position as as a reference site for tens of thousands of property professionals in their daily work.

We have approached Rightmove for comment on this last claim.

Rightmove has previously agreed with OTM claims that it has reduced the number of leads, but says that this is entirely deliberate, as it has chosen to prioritise quality over volume.

Leads to agents from Rightmove down 35%, OnTheMarket boss claims