This winter, Zillow will allow users of visual content marketing network Urbanimmersive to directly upload their photography to the listing giant’s database.
According to a Tuesday press release, photographers using a CRM (customer relationship management) tool developed by Laval, QC company Urbanimmersive is the first group to have its content workflow integrated with Zillow’s database.
Currently, most of Urbanimmersive’s CRM users are located in Ontario and Quebec, which is handy as Zillow recently launched Canadian listings.
But with a purchase of Atlanta-based Tourbuzz over the summer, Urbanimmersive now has access to the largest independent real estate photographer network in North America.
That means more than 9,600 photographers serving 63,000 real estate professionals through 1,500 businesses can display their photography on Zillow’s listings.
“Photographers can then offer this added value service to their agents from our platform in order to simplify and speed up the process of pushing high-resolution visual content on Zillow,” said Urbanimmersive CEO Ghislain Lemire in an email.
This will be a free service for Urbanimmersive photographers, according to Lemire, and the photographs will be licensed to Zillow. Zillow will get the high-resolution pictures, info on the listing and a photographer ID.
Urbanimmersive will also let photographers stay on top of changes to copyright terms associated with Zillow’s use of their content.
“We’re excited to have signed this agreement with Urbanimmersive, and their network of real estate photographers. The ability for photographers using Urbanimmersive to upload directly to Zillow will help drive more high-resolution content on listings — creating a better experience for home shoppers and real estate agents alike,” said Steve Lake, director of business development at Zillow.
A representative from Zillow told Inman that while there was no plans to announce other content partners, it was always looking to improve the real estate professional experience.
Before it was acquired by Urbanimmersive, Tourbuzz offered different kinds of visual content, like panoramas and video content. At this time, the deal is currently just for still photographs, “but we are open to send whatever Zillow will be ready to receive from our network of photographers,” Lemire said.
