It's baffling, but true. Realtors seem to hold newspapers and Internet real estate media to different standards. Ask a Realtor to pay to advertise a listing in their local leading newspaper, and they don't bat an eye. Ask them to pay to advertise on a real estate site, and they draw back like you have a foot growing out of your forehead. Why the double standard? Could it be that they don't recognize a media company when they see one? The Internet is media, with one exception - online Internet media can do more than newspapers - they can double as technology service providers, and that's where the confusion comes in for Realtors. When a real estate media company tries to sell a Realtor a Web site or page to attach to their listings, they are offering a technology marketing solution - advertising. Realtors don't recognize themselves as online advertisers, but that is what they are. A Web site may not be a banner ad, but it is an advertisement nonetheless. So is a listing. Yet, when it comes to advertising online, some Realtors cry foul. "With my listings, I'm giving them valuable content that has enabled them to grow powerful, why should I pay to be attached to my listing, or pay to link to my Web site, or pay to get leads from the site's home valuation technology or school reports?" they complain. Yet these same Realtors miss the double standard that they are also giving newspapers the same valuable content and paying for the privilege! But somehow online real estate media companies are treated like scoundrels for wanting to keep the doors open with revenues. Why don't they deserve to? Perhaps these Realtors don't understand that the advertising game is the same online as off, with a few exceptions. Just like television, radio, and newspapers, Internet media like HomeAdvisor, HomeSeekers, eBay and Homestoreprovide information-based content to attract viewers. Viewers attract advertisers. Advertisers attract buyers. Advertisers provide revenues that allows the media company to publish the content, and so the cycle goes on. There's just one problem. The cycle doesn't work quite as smoothly on the Internet. Some things are better and some are worse. When you buy a newspaper ad, what guarantee do you have that anyone will see your ad? All you get from the newspaper is a subscription number, but how many of those subscribers are in the market for a home or to find a Realtor? The Internet, on the other hand, is held to greater accountability. Because traffic numbers can be traced to click-throughs, media sites know exactly how many viewers look at homes and Realtors. Realtors can also track these results on their own sites. It is this accountability that makes Internet advertisers more demanding. They expect the media company to be accountable for leads, a standard they wouldn't dare hold newspapers to. And that's why Internet advertising doesn’t pay the bills, and it continues to be undervalued. So how does an Internet media company pay its bills? They continue to sell banner ads, but they also find other ways to sell advertising. Some of these companies have figured out how to repackage advertising into new lead generation tools - Web sites, electronic newsletters, e-cards, and sponsorships. Yet, while Realtors don't expect newspapers to give away words or images, and in fact are willing to pay premium money by the inch for classified ads and display ads, they fully expect Internet media to carry their listings and provide them leads for free. In fact, many are insulted that a company may actually want to keep the doors open by making some money. Like all double standards, this doesn't make sense, either for the Realtors or for the Internet media. Something's got to give and it has. Companies are charging Realtors for what they used to give away for free. Realtors have gone from being treated like valuable content providers to being asked to pay up as advertisers. And they don't like it. Why? Because they haven't cut back on their newspaper advertising. But they should. Because things have changed. In the early days of the Internet, online real estate media companies competed strongly for listings so they could get viewers and sell ad space to advertisers. But these consumer sites lose money. Just ask John Giaimo of Homeseekers and Stuart Wolff of Homestore. Why? Contrary to popular belief, consumers don't pay the Internet media. They pay the advertisers when they buy something, or otherwise the advertisers won't renew their ads. So, to attract consumers, they have to supply forms of advertising that aren't as easily passed over as banner ads. The most innocuous of these forms of advertising is the gold standard of the Internet - the listing. To get listings in large enough supply to attract viewers, these media companies went to the supply stores - the local MLSs and offered to pay for the listings in bulk. Therefore showing the listings on the Internet costs the companies money. Why would they lose money to showcase listings? Because they could attract more viewers by giving more information about the listing than is obtainable in the local newspaper. So what the media companies are really trying to do is wrest market share away from the newspapers. And the strategy has almost paid off. In less than four years, more than 50 percent of buyers are turning to the Internet to view homes and in greater richer detail than is possible in the pay-by-the-inch newspaper ad-selling format. But Realtors haven't given up the newspaper or even cut back their newspaper advertising because they feel it is a proven medium despite compelling evidence that they can advertise more homes for less money online and get proven viewers, qualified by their desire to find a home. For a fraction of the cost of a typical Sunday newspaper ad, that ends up lining the bird cage the next day, a Realtor can showcase a home with virtual tours, text, attach a Web site, put the listing on a number of media sites, and submit the Web site to search engines for greater lead generation and the ad runs until the home is sold at no additional cost. Yet, many Realtors still don't perceive online real estate media as a good deal, and in fact, many perceive the media companies as interlopers and enemies. They actually resent the companies for advertising their listings for free, and asking for payment in the form of Web sites and other lead generation tools! Until that changes, only the Realtors who buy these tools will be found on the Internet. That is a sure way to lower the competition, and that's an advertising bargain any day.