REA and Domain End Long-Running Spat in Court

REA and Domain End Long-Running Spat in Court
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine
SHARE
THIS



One of the most drawn-out and costly media battles in recent times – the war between Fairfax Media’s Domain and the rival News Corp-owned REA Group – has come to an end in the Federal Court.

Both real estate groups have claimed wins from the long-running feud, which all started 12 months ago when REA lodged seven claims – one of which was dropped – to the Federal Court that Domain was publishing misleading or deceptive ads.

Specifically, REA alleged that Domain claimed in its advertising that its app was the number one property app in Australia, had the most property listings in Sydney and Melbourne, and is Australia’s highest-rated property app.

Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy determined that two of Domain’s ad claims of having the most listings in Sydney were false and misleading, while others were just “advertising puffery” and were not deceptive.

The two ads that got Domain into trouble with the law were a full-pager in the Sydney Morning Herald – which was published in February last year with the tagline “#1 property app in Australia” – and a series of billboards in the harbourside city.

Commenting on the court judgement, Domain Group CEO Antony Catalano said he found it “incredibly amusing to see the PR machine REA has swung into place to justify their action”.

“I have said before, REA’s strategy is ‘litigate and imitate’,” he said.

“For a business that spends an extraordinary amount of time telling the media how much bigger they are than Domain, they spend a lot of time and money watching us.

“I’m so very proud of the people in our business, our products and the passion we have. Much more to come.”

REA Group boss Tracey Fellows said the overall judgment was a “good outcome” and “justified why we took action in the first place”, according to news.com.au.

“Our aim in taking this action was to ensure customers and consumers are able to make informed decisions based on reliable facts,” she said.

“We are one step closer to keeping our competitor honest and accountable to provide reliable and fact-based information.”

Please login with linkedin to comment

15 Facts Advertising Standards Bureau Creative Pitch Emaling Virgin

Latest News

Eyeota Enhances Reach And Targeting Precision For RDA Research
  • Marketing

Eyeota Enhances Reach And Targeting Precision For RDA Research

Leading Australian market research data brand, RDA Research, provides actionable consumer intelligence to help businesses inform decision making and growth strategies. RDA Research wanted to make its unique consumer data available for addressable digital targeting and required a data onboarding partner to help activate their data in an online environment.

Enthral Strengthens Journalistic DNA By Hiring Channel 7 Reporter Sean Sowerby
  • Media

Enthral Strengthens Journalistic DNA By Hiring Channel 7 Reporter Sean Sowerby

Storytelling agency Enthral has appointed Channel 7 reporter and sports presenter Sean Sowerby as its new senior PR and content manager in Melbourne. Sowerby (pictured) started his award-winning career at 3AW before spending more than 15 years in television. Enthral founder and manager director, Cameron Smith, spoke of the significance of Sowerby joining the agency. […]

Blis Puts Its CEO In The Desert In Clever New “Data Drought” Ad
  • Campaigns
  • Technology

Blis Puts Its CEO In The Desert In Clever New “Data Drought” Ad

Ever since Google first announced it would be getting rid of third-party cookies on Chrome, digital advertising businesses have been actively sharing their plans for life after cookies. And now programmatic advertising company Blis might have come up with the most creative way to get the message across, in a new video which sees company […]

Agency Icon Sweeps The SABRE Awards
  • Marketing
  • Media

Agency Icon Sweeps The SABRE Awards

Integrated Melbourne agency Icon has taken top honours in the 2021 SABRE Awards, winning the coveted Australasian Consultancy of the Year for 2021 along with a host of category and craft awards. Icon led a large field of Australian agencies with a total of three major and seven minor awards, including gold in the cause-related […]

Former Agency Execs Launch Car Service Summon
  • Marketing
  • Media

Former Agency Execs Launch Car Service Summon

Former agency executives Tim O’Neill and Tim Fouhy have launched the auto technology startup Summon. Australia’s first full e-commerce service for prestige cars. O’Neill and Fouhy both founded Reactive, a digital agency, which was bought by Accenture in 2016. Following the deal, O’Neill and Fouhy ended up leading the company’s digital marketing arm, Accenture Interactive before […]