New HyperSocial™ Agent Search Tools Now in Beta on Realtor.com

Published on Thursday, 12 January 2012 06:13 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

Mobile-Enabled Agent Profiles Surfacing Deep Social Connections and Agent Recommendations Connect Real Estate Buyers, Sellers and Agents on Largest and Most Accurate Real Estate Site

CAMPBELL, Calif., Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- While technology continues to evolve the way people buy and sell properties, real estate transactions remain largely based on relationships and trust between agents and clients. To help them connect through online networks and communities, Realtor.com® announces the beta roll out of its mobile-enabled HyperSocial™ agent search tools.  Realtor.com, the #1 homes for sale web site, is operated by Move, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE), the leader in online real estate.

The first two HyperSocial™ agent search tools are now in beta and include HyperSocial™ Agent Profile Pages and HyperSocial™ Agent Recommendations.  They will be integrated into the Realtor.com Find a Realtor® (FAR) directory at the beginning of the 2012 home buying season, and accessible on the Realtor.com desktop FAR and Showcase Listing Enhancement iPhone, iPad and Android mobile app experiences.

Now available in beta for registration by Realtors® with a valid NRDS number at http://www.socialbios.com, these HyperSocial™ agent search tools will initially span Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google and FourSquare.  Information on how to register in seconds can be found at:  http://lockbox.realtor.com/realtor-technology/how-to-set-up-a-socialbios-account/.

HyperSocial™ Agent Profile Pages are mobile-enabled pages viewable from desktops and most mobile devices. Through social graphing technology, the HyperSocial™ Agent Profiles surface mutual connections, extended relationships, and shared interests by layering the social networks of agents and consumers.  These agent profiles, which serve as safe places for agents to direct their clients for all relevant contact information in one convenient location. 

HyperSocial™ Agent Recommendations live within each HyperSocial™ Agent Profile as an agent branded URL and is an easy way for clients to share a recommendation an agent has earned without any registration requirements.  Recommendations are reviewed and approved for display by each agent, and can be manually or automatically broadcasted to the agent's online network from one central hub with one easy click. When the recommendation URL is emailed or texted, users are directed back to the agent's HyperSocial™ Agent Profile featuring other key agent information.

To view a Realtor® profile live in the HyperSocial™ Agent Profile Page beta experience, click the following links, and then log in with Facebook to view mutual connections, affiliations and networks.  http://beta.realtor.com/realestateagents/Nicole-Winsauer_Denver_CO_297699

"For years Realtors® have built very successful businesses by networking within their local communities.  The relationships and trust that develops from networking often delivers the highest quality client connections to a Realtor®'s door step," says Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com. "Today, approximately eight in ten agents and brokers are in charge of marketing their listings, and 56% consider social media important for generating connections with prospective clients.(1)  By developing our recently acquired SocialBios technology into a scalable search tool to find Realtors®, millions of people can quickly find a Realtor® based on common connections, interests, and groups. Realtors® can also use our new HyperSocial™ search tools to manage their online social reputations and proudly broadcast recommendations across the web as they're transitioning their networking talents into the online world."

Today, almost all agents (93%) and brokers (90%) use social media to market their brands and listings, with Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube as the most used social media tools followed by Twitter.(2) Through Realtor.com's HyperSocial™ Agent Recommendations hub, Realtors® can broadcast client recommendations featuring fresh and timely content across most social media platforms.

"Recommendations are one of the most important pieces of unstructured content on the web for attracting and engaging new customers," says Move's SocialBios General Manager, Ernie Graham.  "Until now, most recommendation solutions for real estate focus on a destination website, not the agent or broker.  Our HyperSocial™ Agent Recommendations hub puts the agent in control of this content and provides a convenient platform for distributing it to multiple websites and networks with one click. We're very excited to deliver an easy-to-use social reputation management tool Realtors® can use to capture higher quality connections with prospective clients."

When combined with the Realtor.com Ask a Realtor question and answer platform http://www.realtor.com/blogs/ask-a-realtor-application/, the Realtor.com Facebook business pages http://support.realtor.com/training/facebook/facebook-business-page/menu-id-114, and the Social Connections app from Realtor.com http://marketing.realtor.com/cmp/NAR/ba/fbapp/120111/,  Realtors® can take advantage of Move's acceleration into the development of social media tools that connect them with buyers and sellers interested in property transactions.  All Realtor.com branded mobile apps integrate social media into the search experience, and enable users to instantly find and share homes for sale or rent with others within their online communities and networks.

Move, Inc. acquired the award-winning SocialBios technology and talent in July 2011.  In just six short months, Move developed the SocialBios technology into the HyperSocial™ line of search tools to create high-quality connections between Realtors and buyers or sellers. SocialBios was a 2011 Best Tech Startup winner at the Inman Connect event in New York City, and won 'Most Innovative Startup 2011' at Inman Connect later that year in San Francisco.

ABOUT MOVE, INC.

Move, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE) is the leader in online real estate with 20.6 million visitors(3) to its online network of websites within the Realtor.com Real Estate Network.  Move, Inc. operates: Move.com, a leading destination for information on new homes and rental listings, moving, home and garden and home finance; REALTOR.com®, the official website of the National Association of REALTORS®; Moving.com; SeniorHousingNet; ListHub; and TOP PRODUCER Systems. Move, Inc. is based in Campbell, California.

ABOUT REALTOR.COM®

REALTOR.com®, where the world shops for real estate online, is operated by Move, Inc., (NASDAQ: MOVE) and is the official Web site of the National Association of REALTORS®. Ranked as the #1 homes-for-sale site, REALTOR.com® currently offers potential home buyers access to over three million property listings, as well as the most brokers and agents. It also provides REALTORS® and the home sellers they represent with the Internet's largest real estate marketplace, reaching more than 10.5 million consumers in November 2011(4). Agents and companies have the power to customize REALTOR.com® resources to maximize their brand and productivity.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of Move's future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of Move, its subsidiaries, divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements.  These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Move files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks.  Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Move's future results.  The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Move cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.  Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  Finally, Move expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

(1) 2011 NAR Technology Survey Results - http://www.realtor.org/technology/crt_web/crtsurvey

(2) 2011 NAR Technology Survey Results - http://www.realtor.org/technology/crt_web/crtsurvey

(3) comScore Media Metrix, Key Measures Report, November 2011

(4) comScore Media Metrix, Key Measures Report, November 2011

SOURCE Move, Inc.