Zoopla boss Charlie Bryant says four million homeowners have now claimed their home on the portal, with one in four going on to be listed on the site for sale.
And in a letter to users last week Bryant (main picture) hit back at recent claims from OnTheMarket (OTM) regarding its website traffic and being the number two most trafficked portal.
Zoopla recently commissioned a poll with OnePulse to better understand which property websites consumers would expect to see their homes on if they put them up for sale which revealed nearly seven out of 10 (68%) said Rightmove; nearly four out of 10 (38%) went for Zoopla and just four out of 100 (4%) said OnTheMarket.
Bryant writes: “While we typically avoid engaging in public debates, we believe it’s important to share the facts so you can better understand the claims and tactics being deployed to ‘Win your appreciation’.”
‘LOW-QUALITY ADVERTISING’
He adds: “In this instance, we believe that OTM dramatically increased traffic to their website in September using low-quality display advertising, with the aim of creating a headline.
“The figures shared by OTM in their recent advertising highlight the month of September and do not accurately reflect the entirety of 2024. Looking back at 2024 to date, Zoopla users consistently spend twice as long on site compared to OTM.”
INTERESTING STORY
He went on to say that looking deeper into OnTheMarket’s September traffic spike revealed an ‘interesting story’.
He adds: “Visit duration dropped by 9.8%. This means visitors spent less time on OTM’s site, indicating to us that they are engaging less with the content and services offered.
“Bounce rate increased by 12.4%. A higher bounce rate shows us that more users left OTM’s site after viewing just one page, suggesting that they didn’t find what they were looking for or weren’t motivated to explore further.
SHARP DROP
“Pages viewed per visit declined by 20.8%. This sharp drop highlights that visitors are clicking through fewer listings or exploring less of the platform overall, further suggesting to us that OTM has lower engagement and intent.
“Paid traffic increased by 209%. A significant spike in display ads on external websites suggests to us that OTM relied heavily on paid traffic to drive visits. In our experience paid traffic often consists of low-quality, less-motivated users compared to organic (traffic from search engines or social media) or app-driven audiences.”
HIGHER BOUNCE RATES
Bryant claims that the metrics reveal that OTM’s strategy seems to be focused on increasing traffic numbers rather than engaging serious movers.
He says: “Low visit duration, higher bounce rates, and fewer pages viewed means, in our experience, that users are less likely to convert into leads for your business.”
And he adds: “We’re committed to your success and won’t engage in ongoing debates or headline-chasing tactics.
“Instead, we’ll stay focused on what matters most, delivering high-quality leads and helping you succeed through measurable results.”
OnTheMarket have been approached for comment.
