I haven’t spoken to Rich Barton or the folks at Zillow lately but according to the WSJ this a.m., they’ve just raised another huge round: $30 million. (BTW: both Zillow and Trulia will be at SMX Local & Mobile.).
Beyond the funding part of the article, here’s another interesting tidbit:
Mr. Barton said the company is trying a localized advertising program. Businesses such as plumbers, architects or real-estate agents use the program to deliver targeted ads to people searching for home information within specific ZIP codes. About 6,000 businesses have participated, Mr. Barton said.
The article also says that the company has a 20 person sales force and is going to build that out further.
One very interesting issue is the impact of the real estate downturn on advertising on their site. It’s kind of a microcosm of broader advertising trends. Is Zillow seeing more dollars in a buyer’s market where agents and brokers may be cutting back on traditional media spending? Or is the company seeing a retrenchment that reflects the flat market and credit crunch?
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Courtesy of Malcom Lewis here’s a Q&A from the Seattle PI with Zillow CEO Rich Barton in which he elaborates on the rationale behind the fund raise and other related issues.
Screenwerk 
September 21, 2007 at 1:43 pm
[…] in point, Greg also reports that Zillow.com just raised $30M in another round of investment. Huge sums of money pumping into local […]