Former Rightmove Chairman says Rightmove should have gotten into online dating

October 8, 2019
Share this Post: 

In all the years Rightmove has been offering its services to home buyers, sellers, renters, and agents, has it missed the mark?

According to Harry Hill, former Chief Executive of Countrywide and ex-Chairman of Rightmove, it missed a trick. Fifteen years ago he tried to persuade the board that Rightmove should move into online dating. He suggested it could use the same technology, but pictures and descriptions of singletons rather than houses.

Hill recently told the Sunday Times: “The team was very keen but the board said it didn’t like the slightly dubious connotation.”

Rightmove is now a FTSE 100 company with a valuation of £4.6 billion.

But, said Hill: “I think Rightmove missed a trick. It would be worth £10 billion now.”

When you think about it, Rightmove even had the right name for a dating site.

And just think of all those advertisers complaining how it is easily the most expensive dating site “but you’ve got to be on it”.

Read more here

Join us November 12-15 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Madrid 2019.

Property Portal Watch Madrid Summit 2019

October 8, 2019

Subscribe to our mailing list to get the famous, free Friday newsletter!

News and analysis to help build better online marketplace businesses, in your inbox, every Friday

Related News

Product Roundup 26 April
Product Roundup: Zillow, Dubizzle, Lifull, Homming, Homesearch

The portal wars accelerated in earnest in this week's product roundup, while we've spotted two more "money-focused" updates from Dubizzle...

Read More
Nar Settlement To End Buyer Agent Commissions
Judge Approves $418M NAR Settlement—Buyer Commissions to be Eliminated?

In a major change to the industry, home sellers in the United States will no longer be required to offer...

Read More
Domclick
What Is Domclick Up To? Four Product Updates in Less Than a Month

Russian marketplace Domclick has announced its fourth product and service upgrade in the past month alone. Domclick is owned by...

Read More
Costar Q1 2024 Feat
CoStar Group Q1 Results: Homes.com Drives 12% Year-on-Year Revenue Growth to $656 Million

CoStar Group has released strong financial results in the same week that it announced its intention to acquire Matterport for...

Read More

Editor's Pick