Brent, that is exactly what I am saying!

It brings up another issue too, not specific to fan pages, but domain names:

1. We just demanded a that major national REIT take down a paid advertisement they had using one of our property's domain name - their competitor. They used our site name and
linked to their property! (they took it down)

2. An apartment listing site just did the same thing, took one of our domain names, PAID for an ad above our google organic search where we come up first, links from our domain name to their apartment listing service - for us and our competitors.

Is this stuff happening to any other owners/managers?

The basic premise of an ILS is that 1) They can reach prospects where you can't, and 2) They can convert prospects (i.e., get them to give information, set an appointment, call the office) better than a community can. When everything was print-based, this was not a problem, as their distribution was better than any given apartment community. But with the Internet, and especially search engines, these two elements suddenly become fuzzy, which means they straddle the line between you being their customer and their competitor. The ILS's probably won't like this, but if I were you, I would require that they not advertise on my property name (and derivations of) if I'm going to have an account with them, IF I rank high on my property name. If I don't rank high, they are still bringing value, but in your case, that ILS is essentially sniping your "free" prospects.

I agree completely!

Brent, have you seen any management companies successful prohibit ILSs from advertising against the names of their properties and other brand-specific keywords?

I think the premise of an ILS is changing fairly significantly based on consumer search habits (I think ILSs need to embrace the idea that they're targeted search engines, rather than "listing sites.") ... but that's a conversation for a different thread!

I think Brent's position has some merit, but at the risk of sounding presumptuous, are you certain that your site experience is going drive more interest in your property than the corresponding experience (competitor listings and all) offered by the ILS in question Suzanne? If the ultimate goal of your search presence is to drive more measurable prospect interest in your property, is it a forgone conclusion that your site will be more successful at this then the corresponding ILS page for that property (or even a targeted set of search results that includes your property)?

If you're willing to acknowledge that ILS's spend a hefty portion of their collective resources, dollars and brainpower to optimize each element of their site experience to successfully make that renter/property connection, I don't think the suggestion that the experiences delivered by ILS's are potentially more efficient is far fetched.

In fact, I think you'll find that from a conversion standpoint, most ILS sites are going to be awfully competitive with property/mgmt co sites in efficiently turning searchers into leads. I know this is going to sound counter-intuitive to many, but the most overlooked fact in this debate is, frankly, how much better the ILS's are in conversion optimization than most property/mgmt co sites. It's our business, and if we weren't much better at it, our value as an ad medium surely would be diminished.

I acknowledge that my response is going to be viewed as having an agenda, and that's fine. I also realize that there are other good reasons to drive searchers to your property's site (brand messaging, content for non-prospects, etc.). My point is simply that viewing your ILS as a competitor in search isn't so clear cut.

TG

Mike - I have not seen this, but it just makes sense to me. And I really don't think I'm riling up a hornet's nest here - this is obvious to many of the more Internet savvy PM companies out there, so I think it's best for the ILS's to have a plan now to address it rather than wait for the frustration to build up.

Tim - I think you are exactly right, and it was my original #2 reason why ILS's bring value. So when I'm making my decision whether I would want an ILS to advertise on my name, I would first assess how high my community is on the search engine list in the first place AND whether my site is really optimized to convert traffic when I get it. Both are necessary.

Tim, with all due respect, if my url is showing up on the top of an organic search FOR MY PROPERTY NAME I will fare better having someone enter my site than an ILS site in a paid ad above me that lists all my competitors.

My point is I don't appreciate it when that paid ILS uses my domain name, without permission, and indicates it's the "official site" for my property. My url is most certainly the official site.

As an Owner, I can tell you I look at the numbers and I don't discount the value of ILS, we use many and derive great benefits. This works best when people are doing a general search. But not so good for me when they are searching for my property by name.

With respect to your skill in optimization - that's great. However I know my properties very personally in a way you don't. I think we do a pretty good job of marketing them, and by visiting my sites and linking through to facebook and twitter links and blogs, we are just beginning to get stronger. So visiting our property sites is going to be a totally different experience than visting my listing on an ILS. My listing which may look as good as my competitors on an ILS.

There's room for us both to do our jobs well, but it's unfair for competitors (the national REIT I mentioned) and ILS to take my domain name, place it above mine, and to call it the "official site" and link through to theirs. It's just not right. And that was my initial point.