• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, 2 hours ago

Real-estate database Zillow will take its high-intent home-shopper data off-site through a new partnership, marking the first time its predictive data has extended beyond its own platforms.

The shift to partner with Pinterest advertisers moves Zillow’s ad business, Zillow Elevate, from custom onsite campaigns into scalable, off-site media capabilities. Pinterest is its first partner.

Zillow’s audience data that is used on Pinterest is built from actions that users take on its platform, such as searching for three-bedroom houses or calculating mortgages.

Brands can target consumers using more than 200 house-related signals and first-party behavior data around 34 consumer segments including active buyers, renters, homeowners, sellers and fixer-uppers.

Zillow Elevate provides access to targeted data, rather than having to make broad demographic assumptions. Along with inference signals, this data should become predictable and accurate.

The partnership helps brands reach people who are planning to move, ready to make home purchases or renovate, or at the least, thinking about making these moves. It demonstrates how real-time behavior can improve ad targeting, especially during a time when artificial intelligence (AI) becomes like a gatekeeper to predictions.

Household fixture retailer Kohler piloted the feature, achieving 82% more incremental reach. Zillow notes that the same pilot achieved a 23.54% engagement rate, which highlights the potential of off-site media targeting strategy.

Although the process is not considered a retail media network, but Zillow may want to expand further outside its gates in the future to integrate with platforms such as Yelp.
Although this has not been confirmed or suggested, it would give advertisers more context around future needs of consumers.

This partnership reflects where commerce media is heading, especially when all users who want to participate are logged in.

As companies move beyond third-party cookies and broad demographic targeting, intent-based platforms and off-site activation are becoming a more reliable way to reach people think.

Earlier this year, Zillow partnered with Microsoft, the company behind the "World of Warcraft" online game, to showcase a player’s virtual homes.

A microsite, “Zillow for Warcraft,” allows users to explore designs for in-game housing, both those made by players and by members of WoW’s development team.

Some homes are presented using the methods Zillow uses to let site visitors take real-world virtual tours, such as with 3D modeling and SkyTour visuals. This allows users to explore a fantasy living space or kitchen as if it was real -- another form of data that brands could use to target ads.

Microsoft subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment developed and published "World of Warcraft" recently and unveiled player housing as a feature of its newest paid expansion, Midnight."

Owners of the expansion can opt to take their characters to an in-game island, where they are given a plot of land and a small house to customize and decorate in any way they wish.