Homestore.com has agreed to give up its monopoly on virtual tours on listings displayed on Realtor.com. Now, instead of only being able to post Ipix virtual tours, a subsidiary of Homestore, agents and brokers will be able to use virtual tour products and services from outside service providers. This is a big deal in more ways than one. Agents may feel that Homestore capitulated to pressure, and that the company has finally decided to do the right thing by letting agents post the virtual tours of their choice, but the issue really isn't as simple as that. Homestore has been studying the problem of enabling outside providers for over a year, long before buying Ipix, say some suppliers. Although the subsequent purchase of Ipix did cause talks to stall with some suppliers, they picked up again when Homestore had an epiphany, that the definition of virtual tours is changing. And, Homestore wants to be at the forefront. We already know from numerous surveys and traffic reports that the number one item home buyers want to see online are homes, and the number one feature they want to see is a photo. Homes with virtual tours are clicked upon more than other homes, so much so that Homestore has designated a special section just for homes with virtual tours. Virtual tours provide agents with a way to stand out from the pack and they want their listings to stand out, too. They want choice, and they are willing to pay for it. It's a lead generation tool that really works. That's why Homestore is interested. Agents want leads, and to get subscribers to Web sites and other lead generation packages to renew, Homestore is being asked to quantify results. What better way than through virtual tours? Homestore is also interested in something else. Some of these suppliers have a broad range of services that are available outside the offerings of Ipix which Homestore can also enable. The virtual tour according to Ipix is 360-degree tours for $99 composed of four images stitched together with proprietary technology. The virtual tour of tomorrow could be something quite different. Already tour providers are stitching together tours of six, eight, or more pictures and they are going to video imaging as well - movie shorts that do everything from profile an agent to showcase a planned development and all its amenities. Imagine a home tour beginning with an agent profile, cutting to a sweeping panorama of a gated community, and finally settling on shots of the home and its interior. Augmented by voice, text, and additional links, the virtual home tour could be the most significant visual marketing tool of all time. When compared to the one-dimensional and very expensive photos in local newspapers, a real-time tour online looks mighty attractive, especially when you can use advertising to drive people to view the tours. Add phone technologies that call the agent directly from the buyer's PC, and you have a heckuva lead generation tool. How to make it work? Find the right partners. Taking the first step, Homestore says it has agreed to work with two leading virtual tour providers, ImageMaker360, a division of Access Technologies, and VideoHomeTours.com on a test basis. These innovators have cut costs and added images, and new creative applications for visual marketing that include agent profiles, community profiles, and virtual commercials. What both companies have in common is telecasting visual images, a local to national market roll-out, marketing to brokers instead of direct to agents, and they offer products beyond the 360- degree tour. Both are capable of handling all visual marketing. And both market to brokers, who are capable of buying large numbers of subscriptions or multiple products at a time. Sarah Morgan, vice president of business development for Imagemaker360.com, says, "Brokers are behind virtual tours. The industry has matured so that there is more than one provider, and the brokers are interested in competition and want to have selection. We are analyzing the technical issues." Morgan says that the problem is that there are a lot of service providers and clients are choosing a variety of packages. "We don't have the answers to costs," says Morgan. "Where Homestore is smart is that they are asking the service providers what it takes to provide virtual tour services to different clients." Brian Balduf, chief executive officer of Videohometours.com, says his company is already doing recruiting videos, Web sites, customer testimonials, and more, and is working with brokers and agents to enhance their personal Web sites and newsletters and other online marketing tools with personal profiles so that customers can see them in action. "We have videographers throughout the country, and work with major independents and concentrate in markets where we have business partners, and we handle all their visutal marketing," explains Balduf. "Video imaging can be used by agents, brokers, property managers, developers. It's a great relocation tool." Both Morgan and Balduf say that there are multiple tour choices just wihtin a service provider's offerings. "We work with IPIX as a technology provider; they provide the stitchware for some of our products," says Baldof, "We have five or six types of virtual tours, and we work with other companies like Microsoft, RealNetworks, Sony, etc for our visual tours." The virtual tour hub - Homestore There really isn't a national tour service provider, and Homestore take that role. Realtor.com says it has the most listings, and it is the official Web site of the National Association of Realtors. Soon, Realtor.com and Homestore.com can be the site with the most virtual tours. Over the coming months, Homestore.com says it will begin to accept virtual tours from qualified technology providers for display on Realtor.com. By doing so, the company will host and display virtual tours to "fulfill its commitment to ensure a continued high-level quality experience for the consumer and consistency across the professional’s own site – Realtor.com." To encourage agents that they will get leads, Realtor.com will post an icon on the listing and capabilities that allow the consumer to select tour-enhanced properties. In addition, through Realtor.com’s i-LEAD™ Web site product, customers will have a tool to facilitate adding images and posting tours on their i-LEAD™ pages, as well as new opportunities for attracting consumers through the virtual tour. Homestore.com will charge a service fee to process, host, display and distribute virtual tours on Realtor.com, and that may or may not upset some agents, but one thing is certain. The age of free is over on the Internet, with some rare exceptions. And the costs to get homes and agents showcased at prices stunningly below television broadcast and newspaper advertising, could turn Homestore into the real estate media giant that it intended to be.