Realtor.com site isn’t headed the way of busted coffee machines just yet

It was reported that the real estate site was yanking its advertising from a popular Fox News show – risking fans’ wrath. The real story is a bit more convoluted

Realtor.com site isn’t headed the way of busted coffee machines just yet
Despite earlier reports, it looks like realtor.com isn’t pulling its ads from a top-rated Fox News program.

Multiple companies have pulled their advertising from the top-rated Hannity in the wake of Sean Hannity’s on-air comments about Roy Moore, the Alabama senatorial candidate and former state supreme court chief justice accused of sexually assaulting teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

Hannity appeared to defend Moore on his show last week, although he did say that the Republican should drop out of the race if the allegations were true. Several sponsors, most notably coffee-machine manufacturer Keurig, pulled their advertising from Hannity in the wake of the comments. It was reported by several news outlets, including The Hill, that realtor.com was yanking its advertising as well.

That’s because realtor.com’s official Twitter feed said just that.

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are adjusting our media buy to no longer include this show placement,” realtor.com tweeted Friday in response to criticism of its sponsorship of the show. Shortly after the tweet, realtor.com began showing up on lists of advertisers who were dropping Hannity.

That could potentially have been trouble for the site; Keurig’s decision to drop Hannity, for instance, resulted in a backlash that included Hannity fans destroying their coffee-makers to express their displeasure with the company.

But the tweet was deleted – and it’s doubtful realtor.com ever intended to pull its ads. A glance at the bottom of its home page reveals a fine-print announcement that the site is “operated by Move, Inc., a subsidiary of News Corp.” That company, which owns the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and other publications – is chaired by Fox News honcho Rupert Murdoch.

Realtor.com put the matter to rest in a short statement on its company blog.

“We advertise on dozens of television networks and hundreds of shows quarterly as a way to introduce realtor.com to the widest audience possible,” the statement said. “We will continue to place ads across a broad range of networks, including Fox News and its top shows.”


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