Zillow plans NYC mobile push with StreetEasy | Armonk Real Estate
Zillow Inc. is focusing on expanding on-the-go usage for StreetEasy.com, the New York City property-listings website it acquired in August, with plans to introduce a mobile application for more devices this year.
Zillow will relaunch StreetEasy for the iPhone and add apps for Android and iPads, Chief Executive Officer Spencer Rascoff said. About one-third of StreetEasy traffic is from mobile devices, less than the two-thirds share for the Seattle-based parent company, he said.
Zillow, which bought StreetEasy for $50 million and made the service free earlier this year, is seeking to boost the site's mobile usage as a growing number of New York apartment hunters search for property information on their phones and other devices. The plan is in line with a broader strategy within the company to bring in mobile users, Mr. Rascoff said.
"We're a software company, not a brokerage," Mr. Rascoff said. "Our technology expertise is truly differentiated in mobile. It's very, very difficult for a company that's not a technology company to build great mobile apps."
Zillow, the largest U.S. real estate website, has had the majority of its traffic come from mobile users for the past two years. In December 2011, five months after the company's initial public offering, about 100 million homes were viewed on Zillow mobile. That increased to 275 million by last December.
A consumer who looks at a house listing on a mobile device is three times more likely to contact a real estate agent than a customer who browses on a desktop computer, Mr. Rascoff said. In 2013, 78% of Zillow's $197.5 million in revenue came from its marketplace segment, which is mostly tied to fees that real estate agents pay to advertise on the website.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140327/TECHNOLOGY/140329887/zillow-plans-nyc-mobile-push-with-streeteasy
Zillow will relaunch StreetEasy for the iPhone and add apps for Android and iPads, Chief Executive Officer Spencer Rascoff said. About one-third of StreetEasy traffic is from mobile devices, less than the two-thirds share for the Seattle-based parent company, he said.
Zillow, which bought StreetEasy for $50 million and made the service free earlier this year, is seeking to boost the site's mobile usage as a growing number of New York apartment hunters search for property information on their phones and other devices. The plan is in line with a broader strategy within the company to bring in mobile users, Mr. Rascoff said.
"We're a software company, not a brokerage," Mr. Rascoff said. "Our technology expertise is truly differentiated in mobile. It's very, very difficult for a company that's not a technology company to build great mobile apps."
Zillow, the largest U.S. real estate website, has had the majority of its traffic come from mobile users for the past two years. In December 2011, five months after the company's initial public offering, about 100 million homes were viewed on Zillow mobile. That increased to 275 million by last December.
A consumer who looks at a house listing on a mobile device is three times more likely to contact a real estate agent than a customer who browses on a desktop computer, Mr. Rascoff said. In 2013, 78% of Zillow's $197.5 million in revenue came from its marketplace segment, which is mostly tied to fees that real estate agents pay to advertise on the website.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140327/TECHNOLOGY/140329887/zillow-plans-nyc-mobile-push-with-streeteasy
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