Globrix hits out at rankings

Daniel Lee, CEO of free-to-list property portal Globrix, has described his site’s ranking on the latest comScore figures as an inaccurate reflection of the reality.

On Monday, we reported that the latest comScore top 50 shows Globrix in 22nd place and newcomer, pay-per-lead PropertyIndex, in 15th place.

But yesterday Lee said: “Globrix’s ranking on comScore is a wholly inaccurate measure of Globrix’s actual traffic. We even have this in writing from comScore themselves, who admit they are unable to accurately measure traffic to Globrix because of its page structure and the various sophisticated platforms that power the site, such as AJAX. Similar search engines like the hugely popular Kayak.com suffer the same fate when it comes to comScore rankings, so to be ahead of Globrix on comScore means nothing at all.

“The reality is that PropertyIndex paid for the comScore position they have got to. If you want to pay a small fortune for PPC ads on Google simply to say you’re more successful than a competitor in any one month, then good luck to you, but the strategy won’t last very long – it’s hardly a sustainable use of funds. We prefer to spend our money on the site itself and the brand.

“You also have to ask whether buying traffic to send consumers to a site with only a limited number of properties is disingenuous. Is it really in the best interest of the consumer?

“Agents also need a break from all this empty sales patter. More than ever in this market, they need hard facts to help them make important decisions about how they market their properties, not propaganda.

“Increasingly, the public are tired of hearing about endless portals that list only a fraction of the properties available on the market. The single most important thing consumers want in 2009 is a website where they can find virtually every property to buy and rent in one place – and that is what Globrix offers.

“We have delivered a technology solution and business model that enable all agents to include their properties on the Globrix search engine for free and we now believe we have the largest index of properties in the UK.

“Our strategy in 2009 is to increase the brand awareness of Globrix across the country through media partnerships, a multi-channel marketing and PR campaign and the many great relationships we already have with agents across the country.”

However, Lee Bramzell, chief executive of PropertyIndex, denied he had bought his way up the charts.

He said: “I would like to go on the record as saying that PropertyIndex does not currently employ a Google PPC strategy, and that the increase in traffic we have experienced has been a result of implementing a range of marketing partnerships, including those with a number of affiliate partners.  As a cost per lead portal, we have been able to quickly establish a network of traffic referral partners who share in the revenue generated from these leads.

“This network is growing at a very rapid pace and we expect further growth over the next three months.”