OTM growth ‘concerns’ Zoopla, says Ian Springett

The head of OTM remains confident his firm’s website will become the number two portal by January 2016 as the website passes the 5,000 offices milestone.

ian_springett_otmOnTheMarket (OTM) Chief Executive Ian Springett (left) insists that web traffic to the OTM website has proved “buoyant” in March, despite accusations to the contrary, thanks largely to a multi-million pound advertising campaign that has provided “outstanding results.”

Responding to claims by competitor portal Zoopla that web traffic to OTM last week, based on Hitwise data, fell by 25 per cent compared to the previous week, Springett insisted that the data is “inaccurate” and that OTM “stand by every figure we have previously quoted.”

onthemarket“Zoopla’s concerns about the growth of OTM at their expense are apparently increasing,” he said. “On March 6th and 7th, we passed the two million mark of unique users. Contrary to Zoopla’s claims, the traffic levels have remained buoyant throughout March. The results of our multi-million pound marketing campaign are continuing to emerge and the property-seeking public are appreciating the faster, cleaner, fresher search experience which OTM offers.”

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lawrence-hall-zooplaLawrence Hall of Zoopla (right) insists that over the past couple of weeks “things have gone from bad to worse for OTM” with traffic falling “notably from an already low base and very low engagement levels per visit”, but Springett remains confident OTM will become the UK’s number two property portal by the start of next year.

He continued, “Ultimately, the property-seeking public and the agents themselves will decide over time which portals deliver the most value. We remain confident in becoming the number two portal by January 2016.”

Meanwhile, OTM, which was launched on 26 January, announced this week that its membership has now grown to more than 5,000 contracted estate and letting agent offices, with some agents opting to advertise their new-to-market properties exclusively on OTM at least 48 hours in advance of displaying them on any other property portal.

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Mr Springett added, “Our membership base is continuing to grow along with our momentum as agents realise that OTM is the best place to market their clients’ properties with its slick and fast search and results pages which are free from intrusive third party advertising and unhelpful data. What’s more, agents recognise the benefits of a mutual organisation which is working to reduce portal fees for its members over time.

“We are producing quality leads for estate and letting agents and we have also been told by many members that having removed their properties from their less effective portal, it has become obvious just how many leads were previously duplicated and leaving Zoopla has had no impact on their business.”


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