Yet Another Real Estate Broker Cuts off Trulia

June 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Jack Miller considers himself a fan of online listing sites. Miller, chief technology officer at The GoodLife Team in Austin, TX, says Realtor.com, Zillow, and, until recently, Trulia have provided a steady stream of leads to his company's 17 agents.

But Miller tells industry newsletter "Real Estate Broker's Insider" that he has soured on Trulia to such an extent that The GoodLife Team yanked its listings from the site.

The dispute is just the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle that has seen brokers in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and San Diego pull their property feeds from one or more of the big aggregators.

Miller keeps a close eye on Internet leads, and he noticed late last summer that Trulia traffic had fallen. Perhaps it was part of the typical ebb and flow of traffic, he thought. But leads generated from Trulia didn't bounce back.

Miller blames Trulia's practice of selling ad space on The GoodLife Team's listings to agents from other firms. For years, those spots were sold to insurance brokers or other housing-related companies that weren't direct competitors.

Recently, though, other agents' ads began showing up on the same page as The GoodLife Team's Trulia listings, even after the company paid for a broker advertising package with Trulia.

Miller says it's likely that those ads siphoned off some of the leads that would have come to listing agents. "These random agents, who looked like they were part of our company, are being marketed on our listings," Miller says.

Other broker/owners share their experiences with Trulia and other syndicators in the June issue of "Real Estate Broker's Insider."

About Real Estate Broker’s Insider

"Real Estate Broker's Insider" provides residential real estate agency broker/owners with actionable news and information on managing their businesses for greater profitability.

Website: http://www.BrokersInsider.com