Zoopla uses Artificial Intelligence to enhance search experience

Zoopla has launched its first ever feature powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and created a personalised homepage for users which it claims will increase the number of high-intent buyers on its site.

‘Homes for You’, its first feature powered by AI, uses the user’s browsing activity on Zoopla to power listing recommendations for individual users. It uses recent activity on the site such as property saves and views to surface the properties a Zoopla user is likely interested in.

SMART TAGS

This is enriched by ‘smart tags’ which are additional property attributes including balcony, en-suite, period property and garden. These are extracted using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and image detection.

Meanwhile, Zoopla’s new personalised homepage is updated every time a user signs in and highlights homes to users which match their preferences as soon as they reach the site.

As a result, users could be suggested an ideal property just 0.1 miles outside their normal search area, or slightly below their minimum spend.

The new features have been designed to increase lead quality and create more engaged, high-intent buyers for Zoopla agents and housebuilders.

INCREASE IN ACTIONS

Since roll-out, there’s been a 2.5 times uplift in leads to agents and an increase in actions on the Zoopla site such as saving a listing or submitting a lead.

And since personalisation has been activated there’s been a 13% increase in logged-in Zoopla users sending a lead from the homepage.

Rich Hayes, Chief Operating Officer at Zoopla, says: “The macroeconomic environment means there’s still uncertainty in the market for buyers and sellers.

“I believe we have a crucial role to play when it comes to boosting buyer confidence.

“These new product developments are all about supporting Zoopla users in making the next decision on their property journey, be it finding a suitable property for them, submitting a lead, or having an initial conversation with an agent.”