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It must have been nice for the six weeks that Benchmark Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures-backed Zillow had this market to itself but with barriers to entry so low, competition was inevitable. For Zillow, the truth is, better Idealab-backed Internet Brands than Google taking them on.
There are differences between the two services:
This battle between these two venture-backed startups will come down to management. I've spoken to both Zillow CEO Rich Barton and Internet Brands CEO Robert Brisco in the past and was impressed by them both. Barton first helped launch HomeAdvisor at Microsoft and then built up Expedia into the behemoth it is today. Brisco drove Carsdirect to the number one online car retailing spot and used that leverage to expand aggressively into home finance, real estate and travel verticals. Whoever ends up on top, this will be a battle worth watching. — Joshua Jaffe
Go to Internet Brands' press release Technorati tags: zillow, benchmark, vc, venture capital, internetbrands, idealab
Comments
From: H.Greenbg,
Internet Brands, Inc. supports "consumer advocate" web site called www.scam.com via their VBulletin platform. Last month Internet Brands acquired Jelsoft - a company whose software powers the anonymous postings on www.scam.com. Scam.com is a web site that claims to be a consumer protection portal, however, Scam.com actually promotes a Work-At-Home SCAM while smearing its competitors anonymously. Here is a link to a blog that confirms this link to Scam.com: http://blogosmear.blogspot.com/2007/07/scamcom-blogosmearing-to-promote-scams.html Why would a company who is initiating an IPO want to be associated with a fake consumer advocacy web site that's actually a wolf in sheeps clothing? Why would they want to be even indirectly connected to such a blatant Scam?
Posted on:
August 21, 2007 3:46 PM
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Zillow, the online home valuation service that launched to a flurry of attention last month, is 
With each of these companies aiming to capture a piece of the mortgage brokerage and real estate brokerage advertising dime, there is certainly more than enough to go around. Those two industries reap $90 billion in annual commissions combined. But, one of these online home valuation services will end up on top and it won't just come down to the user friendliness of the site. I assume Internet Brands' release is a draft version and they will quickly improve their user interface just as Zillow will refine its valuation algorithm.
Realestateabc also doesn't appear to work in Texas. Perhaps b/c it's a no disclosure state, but Zillow does a decent job. I tested two Texas properties...1 came up but with no pricing and it couldn't find the other one.