Real estate information and technology firm CoreLogic has launched an advertising program for multiple listing services that will allow MLSs to earn revenue through ads targeted to their members and consumers that visit their websites, the company said.
The CoreLogic Real Estate Ad Network integrates directly with CoreLogic’s MLS systems — Fusion, InnoVia, Matrix, MLXchange, and TEMPO — which have more than 600,000 subscribers combined.
Move Inc. provides the ads directly to CoreLogic through the Move Network, which supplies ads to sites like Realtor.com and Realtor.org, CoreLogic said. The network is staffed with 27 direct sales representatives sourcing ads from hundreds of national brands and agencies, the company added, and Move will also be in charge of blocking "distasteful" ads or those infected with viruses or malware.
Rich Paulson, vice president of product management for CoreLogic’s MLS solutions group, said MLSs will be able to choose whether to embed the ads in a number of different locations within the MLS system as well as in any website that belongs to them.
"The objective of the ad program is to provide a source of non-dues revenue for the MLS that they could effectively rebate to their members or use it to buy down services for their members," Paulson told Inman News.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors will be the first to implement CoreLogic’s Real Estate Ad Network in its MLS, probably sometime within the next quarter, Paulson said.
In a statement, Nelson Janes, the trade group’s CEO, said CoreLogic has "the domain expertise to implement an effective solution that doesn’t jeopardize our reputation or the quality of our services, and we retain full control over the ads on our sites. LasVegasRealtor.com receives thousands of unique visitors each day; safely generating a sustainable return on that traffic will help us enhance member services and keep fees down."
Research has shown that people are most likely to switch brand names during a home purchase or sale, Paulson said, making real estate websites ideal for consumer-targeted ads for ancillary services surrounding a real estate transaction.
But CoreLogic’s ad network will also give advertisers access to another set of purchasers: real estate agents. Paulson said advertisers are "hot" for a business-to-business channel where they’ll be able to connect directly with agents.
"Reaching the real estate agent has been particularly difficult … because generally the advertising is not in the systems that real estate agents use on a day-to-day basis," he said.
Examples of the kinds of national brands agents will see include Lowe’s, Home Depot, Comcast, Verizon, UPS, General Motors and other car manufacturers, Paulson said.
CoreLogic has a "very long" list of companies that are not allowed to advertise on CoreLogic’s ad network — namely those that compete with agents, brokers, or the services MLSs offer themselves, Paulson said. MLSs will have control over the ads displayed, though they won’t be picking and choosing each ad to include, he said.
"It’s not really a ‘pick the advertiser’-type thing," Paulson said. "That said, if they find an advertiser that they really object to, we can put it on the prohibited advertiser list."
The amount of revenue share will vary depending on the MLS client, but will be around 30 percent of net revenues received by CoreLogic, Paulson said. Move will get a cut of revenues from advertisers as well, he said. CoreLogic will handle billing for MLSs.
Revenues will be based on effective CPM (cost per "mille," or thousand) which measures ad earnings per thousand viewer impressions and takes into account a number of metrics, including click-thrus and actions taken, CoreLogic said.
The company will provide network MLSs with a dashboard that will allow them to monitor the program’s performance, including traffic and click-thrus, Paulson said.
CoreLogic’s Real Estate Ad Network can be made available to any other customer — not just CoreLogic’s MLS customers — though the vendor for an MLS would have to integrate the network into its system in order to make ads available within that MLS, he said.
"Our focus is on providing a source of non-dues revenue to our customers. We have a very active program in place to offer a number of different services within the next year or two" with that goal in mind, Paulson said.
