RefreshClassifieds

Livedeal ( formerly Yellowpages ) has announced that Livedeal.com and Yellowpages.com have consolidated on to a single technology platform.  While this probably means nothing to most consumers since the experience on both Livedeal.com and Yellowpages.com is essentially the same.

The big impact with the announcement is probably for business advertisers which should be able to use the tools to advertise on both Livedeal.com and Yellowpages.com.  As directories and classified products continue to consolidate it should put Livedeal in a position to save the customer time with a consolidated offering.

If you are in the classified business or even a constant mover, and you have not checked out Zillow yet, I suggest you do. Although the real estate site is almost two years old, Zillow noise really began to peak just this year and I suspect we will hear much more from them, given their recent RE/MAX allegiance.

Zillow is unique in that they have coupled Web 2.0 elements and segmented the site search to match the user - For example, a FSBO’s functionality is specific to their needs and aids in their self-management and so on. If being compared to traditional real estate sties, Zillow’s overall functionality appears superior - Multiple search options, mapping functionality, the inclusion of FSBO’s (this in itself is big news), real estate guides, and discussions. Also, a never before seen feature that could be found on Zillow is something they call ‘Make Me Move’. Here, homeowners list a few details about their home, along with a dollar amount one would need to pay to - make them move. The house doesn’t have to be formally listed in the market place and this Zillow feature gives those toying with the idea of selling, an understanding of how easy or quickly their home could be shold.

Zillow is still in beta and if you follow the site long enough you will see that they are continuously improving appearance, tools and functionality. Nevertheless, even given its infancy they were able to strike a deal with RE/MAX. RE/MAX Realtor groups in DC, Virginia and Maryland will start to feed their listings to the Zillow site. The allegiance will work as a win win for all, as RE/MAX will get to benefit from Zillows advanced functionality and Zillow can rest assured knowing that it has a reputable and sizable base feed from RE/MAX agents.

ad-itions take is that Zillow has just begun and will have a long life span in the real estate market. I also suspect that within a couple of years, Zillow will expand its focus to include a light generalist classified concept, through e-garage sales and other service classifieds that would help the standard home buyer/seller, with their related activities.