In a surprise move, website template provider Number1Expert has announced plans to rebrand as Number2Expert. This decision came following their inclusion of Trulia widgets on the myhomes.asp pages of all of their client sites. Here’s an example.
When asked about the decision, a spokesman said, “To date, our clients are providing Trulia with over 11,000 links. We live in a web 2.0 World, and transparency is very important. Since we’re effectively promoting Trulia as the #1 real estate expert, we felt it important to re-brand ourselves to more consistently mesh with this strategy.” He then added, “We’re very excited about the new opportunities that will arise with our market position as the Number 2 Experts.
The widgets that Number2Experts places on their template sites have been a hot topic in the RE.net as of late. Demonized by real estate SEO’s, and heralded as powerful, free online tools by others, the real estate world cannot seem to come to a consensus.
Be sure to keep an ear open, and an RSS reader ready for more news to come regarding this intriguing topic.
Dan says:
You had me going there for a minute Eric, you actually had me believing that “Number one Expert” actually did that…pretty funny stuff!
May 11, 2008 — 4:16 pm
Cheryl Johnson says:
…Number Two tries harder…..
(Remember that old Avis ad campaign?)
May 11, 2008 — 6:35 pm
Jay says:
Awesome stuff, Eric! Do keep it coming brother….
May 11, 2008 — 6:55 pm
Russell Shaw says:
I finally gave up trying to get all of my listings to physically show up on the map on my Number 1 Expert site and just had it completely removed last Thursday. http://www.russellshawrealtor.com. I usually have around 75 – 80 active listings and my Trulia map would show 20 – 25. This would prompt calls from some of our sellers that their listing “wasn’t showing up”.
Nice graphic, Eric!
May 11, 2008 — 9:09 pm
Jennifer says:
Great satirical piece, Eric. Hopefully, your point will get seen by the powers that be over at Number1Expert. Having those widgets on all of those sites is essentially them voting search engine-wise for Trulia as the #1 expert for real estate.
May 12, 2008 — 5:37 am
Eric Bramlett says:
@Russell – Blackwell actually hooked me up with the “Number2Expert” graphic. My photoshop skills are still very rudimentary!
May 12, 2008 — 6:34 am
Ken from Chicago says:
Eric great post. Think #1 Expert will wake up and add the nofollow tag to their sites when using the widgets? My guess is they aren’t smart enough to even understand what this is all about.
May 12, 2008 — 11:19 am
Sue says:
Prety tricky Eric and Eric! I don’t think #1 cares about voting other search engines wise. They have some very unhappy clients right now, I know that for a fact.
May 12, 2008 — 7:22 pm
Carolyn Gjerde-Tu says:
I understand why individual agents who most likely do not understand how search engines work would put a trulia widget on their site or blog, but a website provider should have more understanding of how the system works.
May 13, 2008 — 12:38 pm
JTB Summit says:
great take on that one Eric. I guess #2Expert really does not get it, or just does not care, that their own clients are getting hurt by their lazy moves.
Keep up the great work Eric.
May 13, 2008 — 1:52 pm
Steve Castaneda says:
Thanks for the info, Eric! I wish they would add no-follows to their links; a bunch of agents in my area use the widgets and it’s totally giving Trulia a bump in rankings.
May 13, 2008 — 3:21 pm