Are traditional publishers finally getting the web?

I was amused to see in the classified motoring section of my local newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald an advertisement that offered a “New” service – allowing you to link the classified ad to the online version at drive.com.au . This is not NEW!

In 2001, when I was running propertylook.com.au, we launched our look-up key where you could go from a press ad, brochure or signboard straight to the property listing – by typing in a URL like www.propertylook.com.au/12345 where 12345 is the unique property ID key.

Indeed, this became very successful – with an increasing number of success stories being reported as a result of this initiative.

McGrath’s Real Estate are now publishing their property ID key in magazines and in newspapers etc. It makes perfect sense to direct the classified/property seeker to more detail (pictures, plans, tours etc) on the web. Publishers were nervous about PropertyLook back in 2001 when we launched – they figured there would be massive revenue leakage from print to web. The truth is the two CAN co-exist and provide additional revenue opportunities.

I wonder if the other real estate companies and publishers will catch onto the fact that today, the buyer DEMANDS more information BEFORE they purchase.