I recently observed on my tdnyc.wordpress.com that the sum total profit from the big online listing sites is a negative number.  That is right, Move.com (including realtor.com), Trulia, Zillow, Homegain, homes.com, Realtytrac; add it all up and they spend more in expense than they take in in revenue! 

What I posit on the blog is:

"What this says to me is that venture $s have essentially subsidized online marketing for real estate agents and that at some point something will need to change. Those changes will likely come as either:

• A reduction in service to bring expense in line with revenue
  
• An increase in price to bring revenue in line with expense
  
• A consolidation of top players limiting options of the agents (less product, same price, reduced total market expenses)
  

 All of this begs the next question – who is the beneficiary of all of this subsidy? While I sat at the Inman conference I heard several creative, mid-sized brokers and agent teams talking about how they have creatively used the internet to drive leads and ultimately shift share. I am not sure what will ultimately break the log jam that is online Real Estate listing marketing, but it is clear that there is NO EQUILIBRIUM in the market as it exists today."