OPINION: We need to talk about Rightmove – Part 2

Hey, it’s me again, gracing your screen for the second time in two days. Sorry about this interruption to normal service but in fact I’ve been asked to write a follow up to my article yesterday that highlighted how Rightmove are succeeding entirely at your expense.

Quite unusually, the request comes from a commentator in the forum of this publication. A surprising but welcome slice of constructivism that is in sharp contrast to the comments that I usually attract. Apparently.

The question from the audience is ‘So what does Russell suggest the solution is?’

This is both a good question and a stupid one (sorry).

It’s good because you’d all like the magic bullet served up on a velvet cushion, wouldn’t you – especially after ‘twenty years of hurt’ at the hands of Rightmove megalomania? It’s a problem, this one-sided relationship where you feel that you’re being abused but can’t bring yourself to leave or to seek help.

But, is it really for me to gift you the Holy Grail of property industry answers and to mother you so? After all, this is stuff that I usually charge literally tens of pounds in consultancy fees for.

Ok, I’ll give you a tenner’s worth. The thing is, the solution is entirely in your hands and hence the stupid element to the question posed. Agents, that is you, are the solution to the property industry’s equivalent of 18th Century France and the oppression that befell the peasantry back then. You are also the problem.

That problem is one of acquiescence. One of acceptance. All the while you tolerate and accept the behaviour of something that seemingly takes advantage, you are arguably enabling them to continue to do so.

The idea that numerous agents themselves could come together to form a portal that agents owned and controlled as a friendly alternative to Rightmove, was an obvious one and one that would work. Or rather would have done if a certain Mr Ian Springett hadn’t got drunk on bonkers strategy (one other portal, no online agents) so rendering the saviour of agents’ fortunes a lame duck from day one. I did try to tell you all by way of submitting a complaint about this approach to the Competitions and Markets Authority – but as usual the industry merely rolled its eyes and muttered ‘meh’.

If Springett had also not been permitted to use On The Market as a vehicle for his own enrichment then I believe that Rightmove would be in a much weaker position now. In fact what happened was that Springett’s greed and inabilities, in my opinion, simply fed the number one player even more power as agents left and returned due to lackluster results and broken promises.

OTM remains one of the biggest missed opportunities that this industry has ever let slip through its fingers and you are all poorer as a consequence.

The original third portal is still the third portal but, of course, has a new captain at the helm now and who may yet find a way to barge his way past the number two to threaten the big beast. But he’ll need a far bigger war-chest, the freedom to use it and proper outside advice too – and the jury is very much out on whether any of these things will be embraced.

So, to the elephant in the room. Or elephants in the form of Michael and Kenny Bruce. Dare I suggest that directly and indirectly that Boomin may be the solution – or at least part of it.

Why?

Look, I’m no drinking buddy of the Bruce’s and I’ve had more than a few cross words with both brothers over the years. But just bear with me on the logic here.

First, do we need another portal? The answer from the public’s perspective is maybe not. But from an industry point of view, yes you do. Because a proper competitor that threatens Rightmove is akin to it being good for you.

Second, there’s the technical innovation and the user experience aspect from Boomin that seems to put the established portals in the shade whereby they have all been super-complacent in innovating. Useable features that challenge the boring status quo of just a binary search experience is something we haven’t seen from the big three. Boomin’s seeming obsession with a different set of functions could well catch on as far as consumers are concerned. And it will force others to innovate, if they can.

Third, marketing budget and skills. The Bruce’s are renowned for building a brand quickly. If they do and, as a consequence of their Purplebricks type budgets, then the eyeballs will flock to their website and agents’ brands will surely benefit from that. And Rightmove will have to look over their shoulder at last – indeed I hear whispers of subscription deals already being done by Rightmove currently like they have never lowered themselves to do before.

Fourth, ROI. Yes, return on investment. How many of you really gauge the income that you yield from being on each portal? I mean really? How many leads turn into sale completions from each and what is the cost to you of acquiring that sale – £100? £500? £1000? How many listings do you really convert from valuations because you’re on Rightmove? I suspect most of you have no idea. There will be a positive return except that it’s just not what it used to be. Rightmove really takes advantage of your ignorance here.

Given the data that the portals harvest and the leads that they convey to you from your own stock, don’t you think that these aspects are all more valuable to you? And if Boomin really can share significant ancillary revenue with you from your listings then the ROI may start to look pretty positive and in contrast to the blind, spray and pray lead generating approach of Rightmove and ZPG. Because all leads are certainly not equal.

Frankly, I couldn’t care whether the Bruce’s succeed or fail. But in light of the aforementioned missed opportunity via On The Market and Rightmove’s continuing stranglehold, perhaps you should? “My enemy’s enemy is my friend” etc.