Roost Goes Negative
Filed Under: Internet
In a move reminiscent of the current US election campaigns, Roost, the MLS-driven real estate search engine released a series of YouTube videos today showing how its results best those returned by Trulia, Google and Yahoo.
Check ‘em out.
Trulia
Google
Yahoo
Roost’s conclusion? That using these sites “homebuyers waste tons of time searching through homes that aren’t actually for sale.”
The company, which previously released a commission report claiming its search superiority (see Quantity, quality vary at real estate search sites), seems to be hammering relentlessly on this point. It remains to be seen whether it’s a message that resonates with consumers however.
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19 Comment(s)
2 Trackback(s)
- From How Quick do Social Media Directors Respond? | Real Central VA | Oct 7, 2008
- From Roost Pecks at Trulia’s Lack of Real Estate Coverage Using Pepsi Challenge Video | Oct 10, 2008
Chad Huck | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Just watched the Trulia video, and if the video is correct, then CENTURY21.com (where they pulled the MLS number) is also incorrect, which I HIGHLY doubt is true.
Daniel, The Real Estate Zebra | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Surprised by this.
This seems a bit too snarky, even for my taste.
Roost had better be careful, or someone might start testing their site.
For example, I watched the Roost vs. Google video again. I looked up the property that Sotheby’s has listed, and that Roost claims in not actually for sale.
Here is the link to the Sotheby’s listing: http://www.sothebysrealty.com/PropertyDetails.aspx?R=104125764&WT.mc_id=GBase
Here is the link to the listing, using the MLS number, in ZipRealty: http://www.ziprealty.com/buy_a_home/search/results/sample.jsp?cKey=p5c32487&page=1&msg=
I went ahead an called the listing agent and verified that the property is, in fact, on the market as of today.
I then went to Roost, and plugged in the MLS number. Apparently, Roost now has the property on its site.
So, what gives with the video?
And to answer Chad’s question, I also called the listing office for the C21 Listing mentioned in the Trulia video. That property IS on the market, as of today. So, the problem appears to lie somewhere with C21, not with Trulia or Roost.
Roost had better be careful, videos like this have “backfire” written all over them.
Rudy from Trulia | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
I just spoke to the listing office at C21 and the listing in question - 10 Bowdoin Street, Boston MA 02114 - is in fact STILL AVAILABLE.
There is a typo on the MLS listing ID # on Century21.com and we have already contacted C21’s technical team correct the error.
http://www.trulia.com/property/1068484812-10-Bowdoin-St-Boston-MA-02114
http://www.century21.com/property/index.jsp?ref_code=C21TruliaDL&id=34927599&WT.mc_id=Organic
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia
Jon | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
@Chad and @Daniel although I did think the videos were a bit “snarky”, which I think was almost their intention, I think that the point they are trying to make is that the “aggregator” sites have a flaw, and that flaw is that they are based on many different data sources, and therefore a high potential of inaccuracy. While MLS data is essentially full proof, other than I know for a fact MLS data it can and is delayed by FTP/RETS/IDX/3rd-party overhead. Additionally, many mls exports are hindered by the current property status preventing a listing from showing up, when say it would show up on c21’s site, and therefore the aggregator’s.
David G | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
That’s classic! My favorite is the Google video where the Roost employee basically accuses Sotheby’s of lying about the fact that their listing is in the MLS. That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while - even the folks who work at Roost have fallen for their spin. There are many good reasons why competitive advertising is illegal in most of the rest of the world. One of them, as these videos demonstrate quite nicely, is undoubtedly to save advertisers from themselves.
Drew with Roost | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the posts — I’m glad we’re having this conversation. Our goal is to let consumers know that there are content-related challenges with some of the real estate search sites online today. We’re certainly not perfect but we’re definitely striving to be – which is why Roost.com is being built one community at a time, focusing on quality over quantity to provide users with a superior home-search experience. Roost is a near-perfect representation of the MLS, which is the gold standard for listings that consumers can depend on.
Thank you Jon for helping us to point out that aggregator sites are inherently flawed and, in doing apples-to-apples tests, we’re attempting to bring transparency to online real estate search. At the end of the day, it’s about giving consumers the best product possible, which I think we all hope to do.
I will say that this is/was not intended to be negative – but bloggers and other media are always looking for the controversial angle. Kudos to you Joel for that!
Eg: Trulia sets a standard for RE 2.0 sites & does a lot well – Trulia voices for example is a wonderful tool that allows consumers anonymous dialogue with industry experts. Google – I use it every day. The standard for global search – but has challenges with vertical real estate search.
Dustin Dennard | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
According to quantcast Roost gets 28k visitors a month. There is not any capital to be found in today?s market. The advertising business model has yet to work for anyone.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. I bet we start to see more and more of these types of attacks as many of these companies start to get low on cash.
Of course the attacks will not help Roost out, with only 28k visitors a month, who cares about the quality of their listings. I can’t believe the amount of ink this company has received with such low traffic.
Dustin Dennard
Panthers
Chad Huck | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
Following up with Rudy’s comment:
This is the first time I looked at this and found the listing on C21.com (which Drew Izzo sent me). I also found the listing on Realtor.com, ( http://snurl.com/45eaq ) and it also comes up on Roost.com. It is also on Trulia.com ( http://snurl.com/45edo )
Now, it could have just showed up this morning, but I’m just pointing this out.
The reason I don’t like the videos is they are really unprofessional (snarky), especially if you are trying to get MLS’s to sign up with your site. Of course, that is my opinion.
Adam | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
This is all true. The IDX feeds that pull from the MLS can sometimes take several days to update. If you post a property on the MLS without photos, and realtor.com etc pulls the information, it can be days and days before they pull the listing again and get the proper information on there.
Marc | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
This was classless. Boo.
Jessie B | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
The issue may also be that some large cities have multiple MLS (I.e. So Cal has about 8 or so) so listings appearing on one MLS maynot appear on another.
Jason Berman | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
I think this is much ado about nothing. The consumers will goto the model that works the best. It’s healthy that these companies are building their databases in distinctive fashion. More innovation will result. ~ JB
Frank LLosa- Broker FranklyRealty.com | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
Wow, they are the only site on the internet that has access to the M-L-S.
Give me a break.
Frank LLOSA- Broker FranklyRealty.com | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
My response video. FranklyMLS.com vs Roost.com
Go local or go home.
(or don’t go home since you might not be able to find it on Roost.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_0D6Sa5ihI
Cheers!
Frank
Andre | Oct 9, 2008 | Reply
So i guess that Roost.com is McCain and Trulia.com is Obama
McCain - old school, backwards, likes to believe his own lies
Obama - modern, innovative, people love to twist his history and records.
Joseph Ferrara.sellsius | Oct 10, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Jon. The video points out the flaws in the aggregation model– a voice over to that point would have helped make it more authoritative. Had it stopped at that, the point would have been effectively made (assuming the public got to see the video). Going for the kill shot (bogus 4sale listing) w/o verification was a misstep. (if anything, put that point in a separate video).
Still, from a marketing perspective, I like the video comparison — reminds me of the TV comparison ads for detergent– see how these blood stains came out with Brand A and not with Brand x.
SM | Oct 14, 2008 | Reply
While I don’t agree with the way that Roost decided to promote their product, I do know that trying to aggregate real estate listings is not easy. No matter where you get your information from, the process of aggregating relies on too many levels to be perfect. If the RE agent doesn’t update his/her listings, the RE company doesn’t update the listings on their website which then makes the mls directory wrong. Its a long line of information that can get screwed up in a number of ways along the way. Nobody will ever have 100% correct info, not Trulia, not Roost, Not Google, nobody.
Sean Murphy, Rofo - San Jose Office Space
Miami Title Company | Oct 17, 2008 | Reply
Most internet sites are really just additional data points. To find a quality property a buyer really needs to go to the area, talk to some local people, and ask around, likely using a local Realtor. I have many clients who buy in condo buildings here in Miami and do not really understand why an area, location, or building is good or bad for them until it is too late.
Spencer Rascoff | Oct 22, 2008 | Reply
How come no one is talking about how Roost gets their MLS feed in the first place? They’re not a brokerage, so how are they able to show an MLS feed? They’ve found a participating brokerage in each city that’s willing to give them their feed in exchange for putting their logo on the header of the page. Does this strike anyone else as against the spirit if not the letter of MLS rules, which are supposed to only allow member brokerages to display their listings?