Acting more every day like the advertising medium it truly is, Realtor.com is introducing a new line of limited personal promotion opportunities that will expose brokers and agents through display ads that are apart from listings.

This is a significant departure from the company's listings-centric exposure model, which it won't be giving up, by the way. The new display ads, called "Featured Company" and "Featured Agent," will be an expansion of advertising opportunities available on Realtor.com.

According to Realtor.com President Allan Dalton, the broker/agent display ads will be offered in limited numbers (10 ads that revolve between advertisers) and sold by area metrics more specific than city and less specific than zip code, and be paid for according to "impressions," or click-throughs. This is a form of advertising known as pay-for-click. The ads will offer the industry and the consumer a better real estate-specific experience, he says.

"Instead of shopping for homes surrounded by pizza ads and other non-real-estate-related advertising," says Dalton, "real estate brokers and agents will be featured."

Here's how the ads work: Go to Realtor.com to the Find a Home section at the top of the page. Key in Reno, Nevada or San Jose, California, two of the areas that early adopters of the display ads have already purchased. The next page that pops up will have a banner at the top or a side ad, called a skyscraper, or both. The combined ads are called a companion piece.

Pricing is based on what agents buy, fixed by local market, duration of the contract, number of positions desired (Up to five positions are available per market) and the type of ad -- banner, skyscraper or companion. The ads rotate, giving each of ten participants revolving exposure.

Any agent with a credit card and a JPG photo can buy a spot. Realtor.com will even help customers select a template, or customize one.

So what?

So Realtor.com is selling display ads. The so-what here is that this changes the landscape of online advertising because it is one of the largest purely personal marketing opportunities for Realtors on the Internet. Combine that with the fact that Realtor.com is the go-to destination of homebuyers and that's a formula for selling display ads that works.

Realtor.com touts itself as "the world's number one online home and real estate destination." Online trackers such as Comscore don't dispute its dominance, as it is part of if not the driving engine of the Homestore network.

Realtor.com enjoys a unique advantage as the official Web site of the National Association of Realtors, an organization of approximately 950,000 members, according to the NAR's latest boilerplate. With its strategic relationships to approximately 800 MLSs, Realtor.com aggregates more listings (from about 1.75 to two million) online than any other single source, making it a primary destination for homebuyers.

Until recently, Realtor.com was a listing agent's advertising medium. All marketing products including personal agent and broker Websites, school reports, etc., were attached to or designed to enhance listings.

But that left a big hole in the company's offerings -- what if an agent didn't have listings? Would marketing on Realtor.com be a good buy?

Because there was little besides directories to promote buyer's agents or any agents without listings, Realtor.com has taken a lot of criticism. Buyer's agents don't have housing inventory, and while it was building itself into a listings gorilla, products and services to folks who aren't contributing to listings inventory were a low level priority.

But things have changed.

The lights have gone on at Realtor.com's headquarters. Agents need and will buy other means to market themselves besides listing enhancements and Websites. Who doesn't want to be featured on the leading real estate destination on the Internet? Why watch those revenues go to other sources -- like newspapers?

The only obstacle was finding a way to expose agents and brokers without violating Homestore's operating agreement with NAR, which strictly regulates ads. The slight window between the front page and listings results -- the search results page -- allows Homestore to sell ads to real estate companies and agents with full approval of the NAR.

Says Dalton, "With 71 percent of consumers turning to the Internet to search for a home, Realtors want to present themselves and their companies in the most prominent way possible. We have been asked to create marketing opportunities that distinguish and reinforce Realtor leadership at the local market level. With 'Featured Company' and 'Featured Agent', we are delivering an unprecedented level of targeting capability to Realtors who understand the power of branding exposure on Realtor.com."

Dalton explains, "Agents told us they wanted to be able to build their brand in a local market using Realtor.com, beyond where their property listings may end. Now it has never been easier for companies and Realtors to do that and present a customized message for their target market."

In other words, any agent can play, so no more grousing by buyer's agents or others who think they have an ax to grind. Dalton anticipates that complaints against Realtor.com won't end.

Shrugs Dalton, "We can't have thousands of agents all at once. The ones who get first-mover advantage are going to be happy. The others who don't get in won't be happy."

Will the ads work?

Since when do Realtors refuse to buy display ads? Until the Internet, display ads were just about the only feasible personal promotion option available. Just look in any newspaper. Display ads by Realtors are the bread and butter of any Real Estate section. Realtors want personal exposure at the local level.

Now, with over 15.8 million unique users on Realtor.com from July to September, according to Comscore, that local allegiance might shift from the Daily Planet to Realtor.com.

And Realtor.com's timing couldn't be better. NAR membership is up over 20 percent in the last two years, expanding the number of customers Realtor.com can sell. Further, NAR has agreed to give Realtor.com access to new members, a marketing coup if there ever was one. New members are joining at a rate of about 12,000 monthly, thanks to the toilet bowl job market in other professions. Many of these are computer-savvy.

These newbies might just like to buy a kick-start ad that doesn't hinge on listings, designations, or other criteria that the agent might not have.

Published: October 30, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.