As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the Web

As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the Web - New York Times: "For high-margin, big-ticket items, the competition for eyeballs is even more intense. Take Internet Brands, perhaps best known as the parent company of CarsDirect.com, which connects prospective car buyers with dealers. The privately held company, which publishes 14 Web sites focused on real estate (realestateabc.com), travel (vacationhomes.com), and cars (auto.com), has expanded rapidly over the last two years by creating or buying sites in each category. some recent additions to its stable include GreenHybrid.com, a buyer's guide to hybrid cars, and WikiTravel.org, a travel site with advice generated by consumers.

Zillow.com is perhaps the best example of how an upstart can attract attention quickly. Started late last year, the site features a single service: estimating the market value of a property for homeowners and prospective homebuyers. After the site drew attention from blogs and other sites though its ability to produce home valuations quickly, Zillow's search engine rankings soared, along with its traffic. It is now the ninth-most popular site in the real estate category, according to comScore."