FindaProperty is dead. Long live FindaProperty.
That's the cry of Zoopla this month as the UK property
portal was absorbed into its new home as part of the Zoopla Property Group.
FindaProperty was founded in 1997 - around the same time as
TheMoveChannel.com, in fact - by entrepreneur Andrew Pendery who spotted a gap
in the UK for a property lead
generation company. The model caught
on and, after years of operating in Andrew's bedroom (and later a Brighton
office), became successful enough to achieve the razzle dazzle real estate
dream: venture capital investment.
Businessmen Neil Anderson and Simon D'Urso bought Pendery
out to tune of £2.8 million in 2004... only for FindaProperty to be sold again,
this time to The Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.
By this time, FindaProperty had competition. Rightmove had
been formed, a joint initiative between Halifax, Countrywide Plc, Royal &
Sun Alliance and Connells. And that ignited an industry race between portals as
the property leads market became
increasingly competitive.
Rightmove, as we know, went on to become the market leader
for British real estate. For FindaProperty, a different fate was in store,
which started in 2008 when Daily Mail and General Trust established The Digital
Property Group. The group grew bigger, adding PrimeLocation.com and Globrix.com
within its first year.
Once 2011 rolled around, DPG attracted the attention of yet
another buyer: Zoopla. A proposed merger between Zoopla and Digital Property
Group surfaced, sparking mass speculation over the future of the UK property
industry. Would Zoopla's new friends help it become big enough to tackle the
market share of Rightmove?
FindaProperty carried on regardless, launching an
eye-catching/annoying (delete as appropriate) ad campaign, which involved actor
Ross Green rapping about property. That then became even more
annoying/successful (delete as appropriate) with the introduction of a whole
family of rappers.
But fast forward to October and all that has gone. The
rappers have left the building.
The site now redirects to Zoopla, the FindaProperty logo
reduced to a small picture at the top left of the page. A quick Google of the
brand name sees the site scrubbed from search engine history, with only an app
review on iTunes and a blocked mobile website to show for 15 years of work.
Well, that and 12,541 followers on Twitter. What are they worth now? It is only
fitting that @FindaProperty's final message was a retweet of Zoopla's account.
It is interesting to note that PrimeLocation continues to
operate. Is that brand, dedicated to the higher end of the UK housing market,
strong enough to continue targeting its exclusive clientele?
The rebranded Zoopla Property Group said in September that
it would launch "its biggest ever marketing campaign" and that it had "plans to
invest even more in its brands over the coming months to deliver even greater
numbers of applicants, vendors and landlords to its member's doors."
With the war on Rightmove openly declared, how much of a
game-changer has FindaProperty been in the real estate lead generation
race? Will that be remembered in another fifteen years' time? And what website
will be next to join the fray?
FindaProperty is dead. Long live FindaProperty.