Desperate Defence

If you want to know what a defensive move from an incumbent looks like - have a gander at this.

The AI technology that Rightmove (profit in 2024 - £282m) is 'trialing' in Feb '26 has been available for 3 years. 

They haven't deployed it before (despite being able to afford the best AI engineers out there) because their 70% margin requires people to continue using their site the usual way - filters. Any change to the user flow interrupts RM's ability to foie gras 'featured properties' and agent ads into the searchers' eyeballs.

Now, however, they're in trouble - share price down 47%, competition growing, consumers using AI in their day-to-day - so they've finally pressed the button on it. 

Do look at the demo, genuinely. It's proper fascinating: https://hub.rightmove.co.uk/latest-ai-innovations/

1. Their preferred version of 'AI' is a really basic filtering of results using text to match against property descriptions. If a searcher types 'kitchen skylight' then it might find it, provided that the words 'kitchen skylight' are in the property description from the agent. If they don't then this is pointless.

2. The results are ... Rightmove's usual results, which are prioritised by them and which you then have to click and send leads from as usual. This isn't what consumers are using AI for. AI allows searchers to discover the perfect property for them - not what this portal wants to force down their throats (because they're paid a premium to do so).

3. People will be searching via voice. We speak 3 times faster than we type. If you've not started chatting verbally with ChatGPT then try it, it's awesome. Rightmove's insistence on typing shows its need for the past to remain present (to preserve their profits).

4. They're going to charge agents for this new 'feature', obviously - currently RM is increasing (independent) agent fees by 12%-18% this year, up to 4x inflation. This is not their claimed 'partnership' play - it's a heist.

So yeah, welcome in the 'Conversational Search Experience' from Rightmove. Their Board confidently turned down a bid for the business of £6.4Bn eighteen months ago - they're now worth £3.3Bn. 

Expect more noisy 'initiatives' that try to stem the flow of consumers going elsewhere to discover property using AI naturally, whilst Rightmove desperately works to shore up that share price and fend off other aggressive acquirers ...