EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Yuliya Denshchikova, Head of Domofond.ru

Online Marketplaces caught up with Yuliya Denshchiova Head of Russian-based Domofond.ru, part of Avito.ru, a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to general goods for sale, jobs, real estate, personals, cars for sale, and services.

Avito is currently number two worldwide in classifieds; its users post over 500,000 adverts daily, more than 50 million active listings (in publication 30).

Denshchiova is responsible for Domofond, which is a vertical classified for property. Established five years ago, Domofond’s goal was to make the search for housing in Russia easier, and it is currently in the top three property classifieds in Russia.

Since joining Domofond last Spring, Denshchiova says that the experience has been exciting and full of challenges because the market is so vast, and because the company sees great opportunities in this market.

“On the Russian market, at this time, there are many fake ads and information about properties, sort of ‘bait and switch’ ads, which makes it difficult for consumers to trust what they see listed." Stated Denshchiova.

Since we met Denshchiova at the Madrid 2018 Property Portal Watch Conference, we asked for her thoughts on her first PPW event. Denshchiova said that such a gathering is a great opportunity to meet colleagues from around the world and see what was being implemented in other portals globally.

“I saw this conference as a great source of information on how this market functions worldwide. Who are the top players? What is the best practice? What can we learn from Zillow, Rightmove, Zoopla? What could we adapt for our market, and what mistakes could be avoided in the process?” stated Denshchiova, also adding that she found the presentations very useful as well, “I really enjoyed the speaker from Egypt (Amad Almsaodi, CEO, Aqarmap.com). He spoke about primary segments and how this is profitable. I found this very interesting”.

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