Rightmove and Zoopla confirm switch to instant uploading of all properties

Rightmove has confirmed that all agents will be uploading their properties in real time within months.

Last night Zoopla said it also expects bulk feeds to transition strongly in favour of real-time.

However while Rightmove will impose the switch on agents,  Zoopla will not, saying a natural switch is already happening.

It is expected that almost all of Rightmove agents will make the switch to instant uploading in the new year, but by next summer all overnight uploads to Rightmove will have become a thing of the past.

The switchover for Rightmove agents is scheduled for January 6, with a six-month ‘grace’ period until June.

The ‘instant’ uploading to Rightmove looks to have major implications for those agents with OnTheMarket who launch their properties exclusively on that portal for the first 48 hours.

It may also have implications for agents who want to time how they market properties, including to their own applicants.

One agent told us he is concerned that the first that applicants could hear about a property is not from the agent, but from Rightmove.

He felt that this represented a shift in who finds buyers – the agent or the portal.

However, Rightmove yesterday stressed that instant uploading is becoming the industry standard, already used by many agents.

A spokesperson told EYE: “More and more Rightmove agents are seeing the benefits of near instant updates to their listings using Rightmove’s Real Time Data Feed, and it is fast becoming the industry standard for property uploading.

“We want all of our customers to see the benefits of RTDF, and as such it has been made available for free to all software suppliers since the summer of 2013, and the spec has been offered to other portals.

“We have been working closely with data feed providers to ensure a smooth transition of our mutual customers ready for January 6.

“As more of our agents are now using RTDF, we will begin to withdraw support for the outdated version of the Automated Data Feed (ADF, also called Version 3/3a) as of January 6.

“Agents will still be able to use the older ADF format for a further six months after January 6.”

According to Rightmove, there are several options “to help agents compete on a level playing field with those who can almost instantly update their property listings”.

These are:

1. Contact their feed provider and ask to be switched over to the Real Time Data Feed
2. Use Rightmove Admin (available as part of the standard Rightmove membership) to upload properties manually
3. Choose an alternative software supplier who is able to provide them with Real Time Data Feeds

Rightmove says that agents can contact their software provider directly to ask about making the transition to RTDF.

The portal also says that the Rightmove Data Feed team would be happy to liaise directly with the software provider to manage this change.

The spokesperson said: “We have let all software providers know that we are able to offer support, advice and testing of feeds to make the transition to RTDF as smooth as possible.”

Last night, a Zoopla spokesperson said: “Agents have expressed a clear desire to create and update listings as quickly as possible and feed providers are moving apace to support real-time behaviour. We ourselves are seeing a strong shift from the use of bulk overnight feeds to using our Real-time Listings Service.

“We have no immediate plans to cease supporting bulk feeds because this is happening naturally already.”

Originally posted here.

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