According to the results to the Gomez.com Winter Survey of the 15 Best Online Home Buying Sites, published January 19th on Realty Times, HomeSeekers ranked number 10, but should have ranked higher, according to the company's chairman and CEO, Greg Costley.

Taking issue with the a wide range of material from the number of listings reported to the inclusion/exclusion of HomeSeeker's site features, Costley wrote Gomez.com real estate analyst Nick Karris requesting a recount.

The survey stated that HomeSeekers offers 400,000 property listings across multiple property types. Costley counters that the site offers approximately 800,000 listings in its database.

"We take particular pride in being the only online real estate company that updates our database, every day, in English and Spanish, allowing for the utmost in listing accuracy..." wrote Costley.

HomeSeekers also provides the back-end technology which is the "listing data backbone" for Microsoft's HomeAdvisor.com, the number two-ranked company in the Gomez survey.

Karris conceded a recount, but added, "We surveyed thousands of listings across the firms to determine what percentage of listings contained email and specific street address. We have since corrected our records on the total number available, however, note that the total is much less important than the quality of listings. Our analysis showed that a significant number of HomeSeekers listings lacked agent email, and property picture and address information."

Costley also took umbrage with the "Key Shortfalls" section of the survey in which HomeSeeker's "site performance lags industry norms," said the study.

According to Karris, Gomez tests site performance on web site speed and reliability loading web sites from multiple servers across the country.

"From our consumer research, web site performance is considered one of the most important criteria by which users evaluate possible venders," explains Karris. "HomeSeekers ranked near the bottom in both speed and reliability categories during the month that we measured the site. HomeSeekers.com ramp up time was 2x slower than the industry average and its failure rate was 11x greater than the industry norm. It is completely unacceptable for a web site to register an error message at the sampled 11% rate. For way of comparison, most ecommerce sites report failure rates below 1%. This is particularly surprising given HomeSeekers' reputation as a technology company."

"Our homes can be accessed in just three clicks, which is significantly less than other competitors," defended Costley. "And since our inventory is updated daily, and in real times when the MLS in question is using our XMLSWeb® technology, our product offering is not only the freshest in the business, it is also one of the easiest to access."

Gomez.com also reported that HomeSeekers lacks key features, including a designated call center, to which Costley responded, "Our site provides a wide range of unbiased, free information including virtual home tours, localized moving services, helpful street maps, school information, loan calculators, and links to various mortgage lenders." He points out that every page on the site offers a "Contact Us" link and a 24-hour HomeSeekers Customer call center at 800-841-0537.

Other complaints included the survey's conclusion that HomeSeekers lacks "listing alerts," which Costley claims the site does have. "These products and services are targeted to place the real estate agent at the center of every transaction," retorts Costley. "Our new premium agent websites use the industry's first unified messaging system and an exclusive "Connect 2 Call" function which further facilitates communication between consumers and real estate professionals. No other company offers this level of communication."

Counterpoints Karris, "I encourage (you) to try and find listing alerts and a 1-800 phone number and call center information on HomeSeekers.com. The "contact us" button defaults to email."

Both sides say they are continuing to look into the matter.

"Our mission is to help ecommerce firms better understand and satisfy what consumers want online," says Karris. "Many firms who initially challenge our results realize our feedback can help them improve and become more successful."