Why we do not use Rightmove at Tortoise Property

19/09/2025 Administrator Estate Agents, Our Service 0

When homeowners think of marketing their property, many naturally assume that a listing on Rightmove is the gold standard. After all, it’s one of the most recognised property portals in the UK. But recognition doesn’t always equal results. At Tortoise Property, we’ve chosen to step away from Rightmove — and here’s why.

Rightmove measures the market, but doesn’t improve it

Rightmove’s annual reports often quote the total number of housing transactions taking place across the UK, but what they don’t measure is how many of those sales were directly influenced by advertising on their portal. They report on the housing market as a whole — not on whether a specific listing achieved a sale because of its presence on Rightmove.

That’s because the platform does not actively work to influence or match the right buyers with the right home. It is essentially a digital noticeboard. A buyer might spot your property while scrolling — or they might not. If a sale follows, it’s more a matter of chance that the right person happened to be looking at the right time, rather than a targeted marketing effort by Rightmove.

And importantly, Rightmove remains neutral. When the market is challenging, it does not offer tools to improve your chances of selling. When the market is buoyant, it does not help you achieve a higher value. It simply measures the market, but does nothing to influence it — either positively or negatively.

One door among many

Rightmove is not a ring-fenced marketplace. It’s simply one door into the active buyers’ market — and not the only one. Buyers can enter that same market through other portals, social media, search engines, and direct marketing. Limiting your strategy to one door misses the bigger picture.

A passive platform

Rightmove cannot present your home to those who aren’t actively searching. It relies on buyers already thinking about moving and actively typing in search criteria. That means your home is invisible to thousands of potential movers who may not yet have taken that step but could be motivated by the right marketing.

Outdated structure, diluted impact

The platform is built on a 30-year-old classified ads structure: pages of listings, side by side, instantly comparable. The moment your home launches, it’s diluted by endless scrolling and constant comparison. There’s no space for story, lifestyle, or emotion — all key drivers of decision-making.

No flexibility, no control

On Rightmove, there’s only one standard advert format. If we want to increase visibility by paying for extra reach, we can’t. If we want different styles of advertising, we can’t. If we want to target a particular age group, buyer type, or geographic location, we can’t. Sellers deserve flexibility, but Rightmove’s model offers none.

Lack of insight

Rightmove provides no demographic feedback. Who’s looking at your home? Where are they based? What stage of life are they in? You won’t know. There’s no benchmarking data to compare your property’s popularity in the market, no pricing intelligence, and no placement analysis. Without these insights, sellers are left in the dark.

No opportunity to extend the journey

On Rightmove, we can’t link out to lifestyle blogs, local market data, or additional property information. Everything is locked into the same limited template. Sellers lose the chance to engage buyers with richer, more compelling content.

In short: Rightmove’s structured, inflexible system doesn’t reflect modern marketing. Sellers deserve more than an outdated digital noticeboard.

Why We Use Meta, Google, OnTheMarket, Virtual Tours — and AI

At Tortoise Property, we take a multi-layered approach that engages buyers directly where they spend their time. Instead of waiting for clicks, we build campaigns that actively target the right audience.

With platforms such as Meta and Google, combined with OnTheMarket and our own advanced tools, we can:

  • Create multiple ad campaigns tailored to different buyer profiles

  • Target specific demographics by age, location, and lifestyle

  • Deliver rich content through presentation videos, walkthrough tours, 4K photography and Lidar-measured floor plans

  • Tell a story through lifestyle and investment blogs, property quizzes, and clean, interactive presentations

  • Engage instantly with AI call backs, AI information services, and virtual tours available 24/7

The rise of AI search

The property market is also entering a new era: AI-driven search. Unlike traditional portals, which list homes in bulk for buyers to scroll through, AI-powered search focuses on matching buyers to properties that precisely fit their needs and lifestyle.

This shift requires agents to supply much more than a single advert — homes need to be marketed with comprehensive, high-quality resources that AI can recognise, interpret, and present to the right buyers. That means:

  • Detailed property data (floor plans, EPC, location analysis)

  • Rich multimedia content (videos, virtual tours, blogs, lifestyle features)

  • Clear positioning in the market (benchmarking, pricing intelligence)

By preparing properties with this depth of information, we ensure our sellers are ready for the new standard of visibility — where AI becomes the matchmaker between buyers and homes.

The bottom line

Rightmove may have the name recognition, but it doesn’t have the tools — or the flexibility — to deliver the best results for sellers in today’s marketplace. The future is targeted, data-rich, and AI-driven.

At Tortoise Property, we’ve moved beyond outdated classified ads and embraced a marketing strategy that combines technology, creativity, and modern search intelligence — giving your home the edge it deserves.