The property portal punch-up has taken another turn, with OnTheMarket (OTM) landing some cheeky jabs at Zoopla in its latest advertising campaign. This tactic, straight out of owner CoStar's American playbook, sees OTM claiming 56 million monthly visitors compared to Zoopla's 47 million.
However, as always the devil's in the detail. OTM's figures are claimed to come from Google, while Zoopla's are self-reported. In a (for him) seething response sent to agent's on Friday, Zoopla's CEO Charlie Bryant lets rip at OTM's "headline-chasing tactics". He claims that his competitor targeted September to boost "low quality traffic" to create this marketing campaign, stating that OTM's numbers headline numbers hid low site dwell time, high bounce rates and low visit page views. It's a classic case of stats being deployed on both sides to state what you want them to say, confusing those that don't have time to really dig deep - but it's certainly grabbed attention in the industry.
This spat is reminiscent of the ongoing tussle across the pond between Realtor.com and CoStar's Homes.com. Realtor.com's CEO, Damian Eales, this week bemoaned an unnamed (yet obviously 'begins with Co and ends with Star') competitor's tactics on industry commentator Mike DelPrete's podcast, claiming agents were making poor advertising decisions based on questionable statistics.
While UK contenders OTM and Zoopla slug it out for the number two spot, Rightmove continues to sit pretty at the top. As former Rightmove CEO Peter Brooks-Johnson once quipped, they're "the guys in the kitchen at parties while everyone else is on the dance floor".
This constant bickering between the challengers only serves to strengthen Rightmove's position. Rather than focusing their efforts on toppling the market leader, OTM and Zoopla are wasting resources trying to outdo each other.
It's becoming increasingly clear that a united front may be the only way to truly challenge Rightmove's dominance. Don't be surprised if 2025 brings a big hug between Zoopla and CoStar, as they realise joining forces is their best shot at dethroning the king of property portals.
Until then, we'll be here with our popcorn, watching the portal pugilism persist. It's certainly never a dull moment in the world of UK property portals - and next year is likely to see this spat become even spicier ...
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