8 November 2010

Are Polluting Factories in Your Region Affecting House Prices?

At Gartoo, we’ve recently been looking into the link between average house price and the number of polluting factories in a region. We have noticed that on average, every additional polluting factory in your region reduces the average house price by £800.

Taking data on the number of polluting factories in different areas of the UK and presenting it alongside data on average house prices, a trend starts to emerge. Areas in which there is a high number of polluting factories tend to have lower house prices, combined with a below average household income.

On Average, Every Additional Polluting Factory in Your Region Reduces the Average House Price by £800


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Which areas are the most affected?

One such area is the North West of England, where the average house price is £153,000 and 63% of polluting factories (of a total of 244) fall under postcodes in which household income is below average.

By contrast, the reverse appears to be true for areas in which the number of polluting factories is lower. For instance, the South West of England has only 64 polluting factories, while the average house price is £228,000. As with virtually every other region of the UK, the majority of the polluting factories (in this instance 67%) are to be found in postcodes in which household income is below average.

So what does all this suggest? Well, this data shows a correlation but it is of course not possible to infer cause and effect. But what it does appear to show is that poorer families in the UK are subject to a far greater level of pollution – and therefore its harmful effects – than those who are more affluent. It also suggests that property in a cleaner environment in the UK doesn’t come cheap…

21 June 2010

Making Analytics Data Actionable Using Analytics API Tools


“Web Analytics focuses on the direct improvement of conversion rates and the stickiness of the website: how to design and organize the website in order to improve sales and engage/retain customers.”Web Analytics Association

When analysing a website’s visitor trends, data overload is inevitable. Why? Because web analytics tools such as Omniture and Google Analytics present heaps of raw data in an array of visually pleasing graphs and tables, that by default, lack useful insights.

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17 June 2010

Will Google Real Estate Change the Online Property Market?

Google announced the launch of Google Real Estate in the UK some time ago. This has been a long-anticipated move and we thought it would be useful to look at what this means to the online property industry and searchers on the web.

google maps real estate

How have Google property results been displayed in the past?

For many years people have been searching for queries such as “house in East London”, or “Houses in Manchester ” on Google, in order to find a property.

Although, rather than providing a searcher with an active property which is listed for sale, it’s more likely to provide a starting point in their search for a property. Website’s and property portals such as Rightmove or Nestoria will often feature heavily and users will browse to properties from there.

What are the benefits of Google Real Estate?

Google Real Estate might try to follow user and search trends, in an attempt to provide results more quickly to a user, looking to provide a direct answer to their query – as opposed to returning the most relevant result.

One of Google’s biggest strengths is the fact that they provide search results based on the most relevant, indexed content available on the web. It is unclear which business model will Google propose with their initiative.

But the real question is, how will Google’s venture would fit with the offering and expertise of an old yet robust industry.