Real Estate Search Tit for Tat
Zillow launches new improvements to its search tools this week (see Zillow Launches New Smart Search Feature). So does Trulia.
The most obvious change in the new release is that Trulia, unlike Zillow, has shrunk the default size of its map results (see Trulia shrunk the map). They’ve chosen to rely instead on a hierarchal list of properties, rather than the geo-plotted representations of the search results.
I actually like the new view a lot the more I played with it. I found myself wanting to see where items were on the map, only after I’d scanned the list to review the properties’ details (thumbnails, price, beds, baths etc.). I think this is much more natural response to a consumer’s search funnel.
It seems then, that Trulia has fired the first shot – as the infatuation with the eye-candy of maps cools in deference to putting the product (listings) up-front-and-center (see Real Estate Search Stores – Coming Soon?). I wonder if we’ll soon see similar moves from the other players?
The motivation behind the change seems to be speed. From Trulia’s blog post:
We’re constantly working on making the website faster and you should see some small, but noticeable improvements here.
And this jives well with a recent comment from Sol regarding Zillow’s new search tools.
I recall when Redfin and Homepage.com first launched. It took ( no joke ) 2-4 minutes to load the homepage. The typical consumer has 37 seconds attention span. SPEED. SPEED. SPEED. It’s the only thing that is guaranteed to change in the future.
The one thing I didn’t like with the new layout is that the options to refine a search now fall largely below the fold. It didn’t seem to be immediately obvious where or how I could change my search parameters.
It also seemed like the new design has added more obnoxious placements of Google Ads on the page. Something that may hint of growing need within Trulia to find a path to profitabililty.
It’s too early in the fusillade to see which approach will win out; Zillow’s maps or Trulia’s new lists. Right now, Trulia sits near the bottom of my informal (and highly unscientific) poll on which real estate search site will win out in 2008. There’s still time to vote, so let me know what you think.
[poll=5]
Brian Wilson | Dec 20, 2007 | Reply
Another great post on FOREM. I think internet real estate sites are still trying to find the best use of map mashups… whether they be on the front end, back end, on the sidebar or someone inbetween. It seems like Redfin and other early adopters of this technology have de-emphasized the map navigation relative to their initial solution. Somebody’s going to nail it and the rest of us will follow.
Gresham Real Estate - Guy | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply
I would agree. The new view is nicer. Sometimes you need more details and the map is big enough to notice were the properties are at. I think its a great move.
quit spoon feeding me garbage | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply
are you kidding me? their search results are the same listed results that RE sites have been doing for years. I think if Trulia went to an all text site, people would write about it and say…”ooohh isnt that progressive”.
Yet, you see nothing written about the new http://beta.realtor.com site layout and the fact that they give the user options to choose their search results view either in large map, list view or large photo view. What’s even more noteworthy is that THEY COPIED this design and search results display options from Homes.com….Not Trulia, Not Zillow..thats right Homes.com. Think about that. Erol Samuelson and his staff come riding into town to bring Realtor.com into Web 2.0 land and they start working on a site redesign. With all the hoopla about Zillow and Trulia, they could follow their lead, but no…they copy Homes.com…the quiet site that gets more traffic than Trulia, the same traffic as Zillow…and better than both, actually turns a decent profit. Imagine that.
jdfreestand | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply
A perfect gift for all of us this holiday season would be accurate revenue tallies for Zillow, Trulia, Terbitz etc…Estately. I just want to know what type of marketing dollars are flowing to these sites.
Real Estate Postcards | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply
It appears they took some hints from Yelp.com. However, I do agree, the interface and experience is much cleaner.
http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=middle+eastern&ns=1&rpp=10&find_loc=palo+alto%2C+ca
retrove.com | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply
Great post. Actually, I discussed this at Dustins… http://4realz.net/2007/12/20/interesting-that-trulia-shrunk-the-map/
and made the same comment as you Joel. The natural search process is via list first, then funnel down to specific properties and add them to the map.
It’s not as overwhelming to the user to see 500 dots on a map.