Zigbang Confirms 100% of Real Estate Ads Are False Listings

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] Zigbang will verify 100% of real estate advertisements for false listings starting from the new year. This is a special self-regulation measure to check whether all Zigbang users who consulted with licensed real estate agents have suffered from false listing damages.

Zigbang announced on the 10th that it will start the ‘100% Customer Assurance Project’ next year by expanding the workforce in the department related to false listings and conducting customer assurance calls to all users so that users can use the service with confidence.

The customer assurance call is a system where Zigbang calls users who have inquired with agents or visited real estate offices after viewing Zigbang real estate advertisements to confirm whether they have experienced false listings.

The customer assurance call is conducted from the inquiry stage of the user and a second assurance call is also made to users who have completed visiting the property. They plan to listen directly to cases of false advertisements that occurred during the inquiry and visit process and verify them more thoroughly. If users are guided to properties with conditions different from the advertisement, such as price or location, after verification, sanctions including suspension of use will be imposed on the relevant agents.

To this end, Zigbang is massively recruiting personnel for the ‘Safe Advertisement Research Institute’ (formerly the False Listing Out Research Institute). Currently, there are about 40 operational staff, and they plan to increase this to about 100, more than double. Customer assurance calls will be conducted 365 days a year without holidays.

Previously, since the early days of the service, Zigbang has operated a ‘Three Strikes Out System’ where advertisers who repeatedly post false listings receive a warning for even one false listing, and are removed after accumulating three warnings. They also conduct the ‘Safe Advertisement Project’ (formerly the False Listing Out Project), which monitors nationwide high-risk false listing areas and conducts a full investigation of the authenticity of listings.

Additionally, for users who have experienced false listings, Zigbang operates a ‘Wasted Trip Compensation System’ that provides 30,000 KRW in cash and gifts as an apology and compensation. This effort was recognized with the ‘2020 Human Technology Award’ in the user category.

Zigbang is gradually reducing false listings by implementing multifaceted policies to eradicate false listings. According to the Real Estate Advertisement Market Monitoring Center designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, among 1,507 false listing reports received during one month after monitoring began, Zigbang accounted for only 7% (105 cases).

Seungwoo Ahn, CEO of Zigbang, said, “We made this decision to protect users from false and exaggerated advertisements and at the same time to raise awareness among agents about thorough management of property advertisements. Zigbang will continue to strive to be a service that users can use with confidence.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.