Zillow Advice: Suggestions - What has happened to this site? Every time I come back it's become worse. Whaah happened?

I don't know. I do miss some ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:37:00 GMT

I don't know. I do miss some of the old conversations. I had hoped that maybe some of those kinds of threads and the regulars would move to mixed bag as a sometimes haven, but it really hasn't happened so far. I think that there is a large pool of new realtors on the site and they sometimes bring bad Trulia posting habits with them(if you know what I mean). I would like to see more regular people as posters chime in. People like that have recently bought or sold or know about something about the are where the question is being asked, but I think they are often intimidated to post in thread with pros or agents. I try to remember what it was like when I first posted and welcome them. Posting gave me a bellyache. It made me so nervous just to say anything. I think that part of Zillow's charm is the neighborhood street corner appeal with helpful professionals mixed in. It was approachable, fairly casual and a good place to hear something different than the evening business report on real estate.

Then don't come back. It's ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:18:00 GMT

Then don't come back. It's that simple.

Here's a good example ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:51:00 GMT

Here's a good example of a post I would flag for having all promotion with no info and full contact info to boot. Here is a post that is about nothing useful, no helpful link included and also no spam. Very irritating because it's a waste of time to click on, but it breaks no rules. And who could forget the old king of "spamformation" here. Where every post was nothing more than an entree to a reason to post more contact information and the hotlink to his website. Yuky. I think most people try to follow the forum rules but I agree that sometimes the volume of empty posts is breathtaking. I want to shake the poster and say "Information pleeese. Post something I can actually use: local market trends, Retuers links, useful sites for research a really good restaurant... anything!?!?! Something other then a pre-chewed blog on what to look for in an agent or how to get pre qualified step by painful step with no details or links included. NOOOO!

I flag consistently especially ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:26:00 GMT

I flag consistently especially if they have commercial hot links unrelated to the post itself or have full contact information down a vacation house FAX number. I also try to mention to them that information is much appreciated on Zillow and spam is not. I think some posters are genuinely unaware of where the spam line is. Some of the repetitive questionable posts are more "spamformation" 75% spam/promotion with about 25% of low quality info mixed in. I generally do not flag those posters unless that is all they post. Secretly, I hope they drop to the bottom faster that way and I don't want to waste anybody's time.

We do look at all the flags ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:22:00 GMT

We do look at all the flags we receive, but sometimes it does take a bit of time to go through them all. If there are specific SPAMMY threads you feel we should have acted on that we didn't, please bring them to my attention here on this thread so I can take a look.

after 4600 posts you get ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:11:00 GMT

after 4600 posts you get to complain about the free websites, people like bette are the life blood of a site like zillow.

i too have cut back my hours here as the relevance of this site has slowly slipped away. the flag and respond model isnt working anymore.

Ahh - got it. I'm assuming ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:04:00 GMT

Ahh - got it. I'm assuming you've flagged the threads already?

No, of course my problem ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:59:00 GMT

No, of course my problem isn't with paid ads....Are you KIDDING? My problem is with the UNPAID ads that pass as posts.

And Kevin: I'm not someone who expects something for nothing. As someone who provides a "free" site I get it. I just don't like how it's being done:*)

People love to complain about ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:52:00 GMT

People love to complain about free websites.

So your complaint is "too ...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:51:00 GMT

So your complaint is "too many ads"? Any particular section of the site you are looking at, or just in general?