Bronte Media

One of the fundamental beliefs I had when founding homethinking.com was that lead generation firms that coaxed a consumer into filling out a form around categories like mortgage, real estate and online education were doomed, paradoxically as they rise to prominence. Or at least set to dramatically decline.

First of all, there is very little that differentiates each firm. They are all standardizing on common fields, which is great from an advertiser point of view, but from a competitive advantage standpoint it is horrible. Literally it is at the stage where each firm is displaying *exactly* the same form.

Efficiencies and advantages in media buying can only last so long.

Two of the largest competitors to homethinking (in that they both help the consumer make the same decision) is Housevales.com and Homegain.com.

I have written about Housevalues quite a bit on this site, and I will imagine I will do so a lot in the future as well. Financially, they are doing exceptionally well. Strategically, however I think that they must change.

Take a look at these reviews of Housevalues and reviews of Homegain on Alexa:

“I’ve been looking to find out how much my home was worth and used a few sites… and this one.. well, I started getting calls from agents who wanted to sell it for me, then started getting even more spam then before!!”

and the ever helpful: “Homegain or is Homeshame? Homelame? Homedisdain?”

I don’t mean to put the spotlight on Housevalues and Homegain, as there are literally thousands of others who are very similar and worse. But those two are the two market leaders in real estate and I selfishly care about them the most.

Dark curtain lead generation sites ultimately lead to a lose-lose-lose scenario. At least, that’s my opinion. Would love for you to disagree with me in the comments.

If you agree with me, go and write a review of homethinking.com on Alexa. No, I’m serious. It’s Friday afternoon, after all.