Real-estate prices predicted : latest news of startup Realo
Last year we reported on the scandal that followed the launch of Realo, a website predicting real-estate prices. A Belgian initiative, Realo has European ambitions and is based on a business model that has proved its efficacy in the US : Zillow.com The scandal was due to the nature of the data used in the algorithm to predict prices : unemployment rate, multiculturality, education levels, … Although all data used was public (and provided for free...
Facebook new patent for credit rating through social networks
Have you heard about Facebook’s new patent to evaluate your credit rating based on your social network ? Everyone refers to it but despite all my efforts I’ve been unable to find a new such patent application filled in by Facebook in the US Patent and Trademark Office database. How curious … Yet, many articles refer to an official document. My guess is that few journalist have actually taken the time to read what they referred to....
Big Data : Belgian website Realo displays social profile of neighborhood
The news made a big buzz on 17 June in Belgium. Big Data based website Realo.com unleashed sudden polemic after months of existence (see for instance this article in French). Their mapping of real estate properties displayed not only properties for sale, but also social indicators like revenue levels, education and unemployment levels and the percentage of foreigners. Contact us for our B2B studies Why did the polemic start The polemic started after the Interfederal Centre...
Service quality and satisfaction : when will real-estate agents change ?
Whether you are looking for a property to buy, sell or rent, chances are high that you have dealt with real estate agents. In Belgium real estate agents have a bad reputation and as we showed in a previous research, it was justified. Today we are reporting on 4 key recurrent problems on this market that foster incredible dissatisfaction. Read further and we bet you’ll recognize yourself Customer’s needs not understood The first satisfaction levier which...
Quantitative market research firms threatened by a paradigm shift
Well established players in quantitative market research are entering some troubled times. Their business model is being shaken by a paradigm shift operated by Big Data companies. Read further to discover two amazing examples of how big data and data mining might shake the gaming, real-estate and media industries. Market share research is a million-dollar business Many market research firms have specialized in market share analysis. Using panels and armies of people to collect data in...
