Aiming to banish irrelevant search results, Gartoo.co.uk is the first search site to experiment with specialised semantic search technology which focuses on UK property keywords entered by the house hunter to find the most accurate fit.
There are often very specific features that people need in a new home – whether it’s a garage, large garden or location close to key transport links. The new web site makes it much easier to search on such terms producing a higher rate of accurate results This differs from traditional searches on property websites which are usually based on pre-determined filters and geographical locations, and mix property search and advice with industry news.
Ruben Martinez, marketing director, Lokku Ltd says: “There are often very specific features that people need in a new home – whether it’s a garage, large garden or a location close to key transport links. The new web site makes it much easier to search on such terms producing a higher rate of accurate results. For example a search for ‘3 bedroom house in Leeds with garden' instantly produces results without the need of selecting additional filters.”
Behind the scenes, Gartoo.co.uk is powered by specialised algorithms which only focus on the property search, with the aim of producing more accurate results. Gartoo.co.uk began life as an experiment by Lokku Labs, the company behind UK property website Nestoria, to allow home hunters to search on very specific queries to a database of properties.
Now reaching stability at a technical and operations level, the site is also due to be launched in Australia later this year. Ruben adds: “UK home hunters are increasingly sophisticated in how they access information online. They vary from tenants, house buyers to buy-to-let investors and so approach online property searches very differently.
“We are investing resources into measuring and analysing peoples’ queries and search sessions so we can constantly adapt the service according to needs.”
