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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Sarah Martin

Why News Corp’s realestate.com.au can put fees ‘up and up and up’, according to ex-CEO

Former REA Group chief executive Simon Baker wearing headphones
Former REA Group chief executive Simon Baker says advertising fees had increased substantially since realestate.com.au was first established. Composite: Online Marketplace

A former chief executive of the News Corp-controlled realestate.com.au says the company views real estate agents as its “outsourced sales force”, outlining how home sellers have been targeted with ever-rising advertising costs.

Simon Baker, who was chief executive of REA Group from 2001 to 2008 and now works as a consultant in the property tech industry, says the “vendor-paid” advertising market operating in Australian real estate is rare globally.

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