# Competitive research: Lamudi Philippines (lamudi.com.ph)

Clean-room, public-data-only reverse engineering to inform the `property-portal` roadmap
(bilingual JP/EN SUUMO-like PH real-estate demo). Conducted 2026-07-11.

**Method note:** `WebFetch` returned `HTTP 403 Forbidden` on every URL tried (homepage,
`/buy/`, a property detail page) — the site's bot-protection appears to key off the
WebFetch client specifically. `curl` with a full desktop Chrome User-Agent and an
`Accept: text/html` header succeeded on every request (`HTTP 200`), including the
same URLs WebFetch was blocked on, so all HTML analysis below is from `curl`-fetched
pages parsed locally. Facts not directly observed are marked "not observed"; educated
guesses are marked "(inferred)".

Pages fetched:
- Homepage: `https://www.lamudi.com.ph/`
- Search results (SERP): `https://www.lamudi.com.ph/buy/`
- Property detail: `https://www.lamudi.com.ph/property/41032-73-a7e7750450ef-ea74-5bd7ca66-bf19-48cc`
- `https://www.lamudi.com.ph/robots.txt`

## 1. Overview & positioning

Lamudi Philippines' own `Organization` JSON-LD (on the property detail page) states:
founding date `2013-10-01`, founder `Kian Moini`, description *"Certified #1 real
estate property finder in the Philippines."*

Ownership history (WebSearch, corroborated by a technical artifact below):
- Lamudi Global was part of **EMPG (Emerging Markets Property Group)**, later rebranded
  **Dubizzle Group** — the same family as Bayut (UAE), Zameen (Pakistan), Bproperty
  (Bangladesh), Mubawab (Morocco/Tunisia).
- 2023: Australia's **Digital Classifieds Group (DCG)** acquired Lamudi's Indonesia and
  Philippines operations from Dubizzle Group.
- March 2025: DCG entered administration.
- 2025: **LIFULL Connect** (the international arm of Japan's LIFULL, owner of LIFULL
  HOME'S, Trovit, Mitula, Nestoria) acquired the former DCG assets (Lamudi PH/ID,
  realestate.com.kh) and folded them into a new regional vehicle, **SEA Connect
  Ventures**, alongside Hipflat (Thailand), dotProperty, and the FazWaz brokerage
  brand. LIFULL announced in January 2025 it was spinning off Lifull Connect's
  overseas division; LIFULL retains a minority stake but the business is now
  controlled by the Thailand-based FazWaz operators.
- **Technical confirmation of current (LIFULL Connect) ownership**: the CDN image
  URLs served from `img.lamudi.com` decode (they are base64-encoded JSON) to
  `{"bucket":"prd-lifullconnect-backend-b2b-images","key":"ingester/...","brand":"lamudi", ...}`
  — i.e. the live image storage bucket is literally named
  `prd-lifullconnect-backend-b2b-images`, directly confirming LIFULL Connect now
  operates the backend, independent of the press coverage.
- Vestiges of the EMPG era remain in the front-end: a navbar CSS class
  `nav-login-proppit` (inferred: agent login links out to **Proppit**, EMPG's
  agent-CRM SaaS product) and a shared "`wl_`"-prefixed (white-label) web component
  library used across bundles — consistent with a platform that used to be shared
  across sibling EMPG brands (inferred).

Target users (inferred from content/features observed): individual buyers and renters
searching resale/pre-selling condos and houses across the Philippines; property agents
and agencies (premium/agency bundle, agent login); property developers (dedicated
"Complex Projects" / new-developments product, `/api/v1/projects/` endpoint,
`/contact-developer-form/`); and PH bank mortgage partners (footer "Home Loans"
directory). Scale (listing count, traffic, employee count): not observed on the pages
fetched.

## 2. Tech stack & architecture

**Server / hosting** (from `curl -sIL` on the homepage):
```
server: Jetty(9.4.57.v20241219)
x-cache: Miss from cloudfront
via: 1.1 ccec8f7c8547a994f6578dd30ad7acce.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)
x-amz-cf-pop: NRT57-P6
alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=86400
set-cookie: _lamudi_user_id=<uuid>;Path=/;Expires=<+2 years>
set-cookie: Origin=1;Path=/;Expires=<+7 days>
```
- CDN/host is **AWS CloudFront**, not Cloudflare (the task brief's assumption was
  wrong — worth noting).
- Origin app server is **Jetty 9.4.57 (Java)** — the core listing/search app is a
  server-rendered Java application, not a Node/PHP stack.
- HTTP/3 advertised via `alt-svc`.
- A first-party tracking cookie `_lamudi_user_id` (UUID, 2-year expiry) is set on
  every response, even to `robots.txt` and `sitemap.xml`.

**Front-end architecture** (from parsed HTML/script tags):
- No SPA hydration markers found (`__NEXT_DATA__`, `__INITIAL_STATE__`,
  `__APOLLO_STATE__` — none present); pages are classic server-rendered HTML
  progressively enhanced by page-specific JS bundles loaded from
  `https://multimedia.lamudi.com/front/f1debdf8/adform/bundle-*.js`, e.g.
  `bundle-lamudiHome.js`, `bundle-lamudiSerp.js`, `bundle-lamudiSerpMap.js`,
  `bundle-lamudiDetailPage.js`, `bundle-lamudiAdForm.js`,
  `bundle-lamudiMobileFilters.js`, `bundle-lamudiNavbar.js`,
  `bundle-lamudiDrawerSelectors.js`, `bundle-wl_agencyPremium.js`,
  `bundle-wl_rateYourArea.js`. The `/front/{hash}/adform/` path segment ("adform")
  and the shared `wl_*` ("white-label") bundles suggest a common internal front-end
  platform reused across pages/brands (inferred).
- Custom Web Components observed directly in markup: `<wl-range>`,
  `<wl-integer-input>`, `<wl-dropdown>`, `<wl-dropdown-buttons>`,
  `<wl-checkbox-unique-select>`, `<wl-favorite listingId="...">` — a bespoke design
  system, not a known open-source UI kit.
- **Sentry** for error/performance monitoring: `bundle-sentry.js`,
  `bundle-sentry_performance.js`.
- **Google Tag Manager**: `GTM-575Z88ML` (confirmed via the GTM snippet in the
  homepage HTML).
- **Google Identity Services "One Tap" login**: `https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client`
  plus `bundle-wl_googleOneTapComponent.js`.
- **Hybrid CMS layer**: the homepage and property-detail-page footers are rendered by
  **WordPress + Elementor** (`data-elementor-type="footer"`,
  `elementor-widget-*` classes) and embed a **HubSpot** lead form
  (`js.hsforms.net/forms/embed/v2.js`, `portalId: "43578158"`, form
  `"Speak to a Property Expert"`, copy referencing **"Presello Shoppers"**). Oddly,
  every link in that Elementor footer block (About Us, Terms & Conditions, Privacy
  Policy, Sitemap, Contact Us) points to `presello.com`, not `lamudi.com.ph` — 626
  occurrences of `presello.com` were found in the detail-page HTML. The SERP page
  (`/buy/`), by contrast, renders a plain, non-Elementor `<footer class="footer">`
  with genuine Lamudi links (About, Careers, Legal notice, Privacy policy, Journal,
  Loan calculator, Home Loans). This is an observed but unexplained anomaly —
  possibly a shared WordPress template artifact from the CMS/marketing layer, a
  partner/JV cross-promotion, or acquisition-era leftover content (inferred
  explanation only; the cross-linking itself is directly observed).
- No client-side search/index libraries (Algolia, Elasticsearch client, etc.) were
  found referenced by name in any fetched HTML; WebSearch likewise found no public
  documentation confirming Algolia/Elasticsearch use — not observed either way.

## 3. Data layer & hidden APIs

No live XHR/API calls were captured (static HTML only; JS bundles are minified and
were not executed/inspected), but two things reveal the API surface and data shape:

**`robots.txt` disallow list** (endpoint paths exist and are real, quoted verbatim):
```
/location_suggest_prefetch/
/search-prefetch/
/saved-search/
/login
/request-phone-agent-page-form/
/contact-agent-page-form/
/*/request-phone-form
/*/loan-offer-form
/*/contact-form
/*/report-form
/*/footer-form
/*/share-form
/*/share-by-email-form
/*/whatsapp-request-phone-form
/*/viber-request-phone-form/
/*/messenger-request-phone-form/
/contact-request-form/
/*/contact-agent-page-form/*
/email-alert-form/
/contact-developer-form/
/whatsapp-request-phone-agent-page/*
/viber-request-phone-agent-page/*
/*/request-phone
/adform/api/events/
/api/v1/projects/
/generate-seo-friendly-url
/api/test/expose
```
These confirm (by naming alone — endpoints were not called): a prefetch-based
autocomplete/search layer (`search-prefetch`, `location_suggest_prefetch`), a saved
search + email alert feature (`saved-search`, `email-alert-form`), a per-listing
report/flag feature (`report-form`), a share-by-email feature, a channel-segmented
contact system (phone/WhatsApp/Viber/Messenger/generic, both per-agent and per-agent-page
variants), a separate developer contact form, an analytics events endpoint
(`adform/api/events/`), a projects/new-developments API (`api/v1/projects/`), and an
SEO slug generator (`generate-seo-friendly-url`).

**`schema.org` JSON-LD** — directly observed and parsed. SERP page (`/buy/`) emits one
`SearchResultsPage` graph containing a `BreadcrumbList` and an `ItemList` of
`RealEstateListing` entries; the detail page emits `BreadcrumbList` +
`RealEstateListing` + `Organization`. Real field names/shape (from the parsed JSON,
one listing shown, trimmed):

```json
{
  "@type": "RealEstateListing",
  "@id": "https://www.lamudi.com.ph/property/41032-73-a7e7750450ef-ea74-5bd7ca66-bf19-48cc",
  "image": "https://img.lamudi.com/<base64 JSON: bucket, key, brand, edits.resize>",
  "name": "Condo For Sale in Loyola Heights",
  "description": "<long freeform marketing copy, ~1-2KB>",
  "numberOfBedrooms": 1,
  "numberOfBathroomsTotal": 1,
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "addressRegion": "Metro Manila",
    "addressLocality": "Quezon City",
    "streetAddress": "Xavierville Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Metro Manila, National Capital Region, PHL",
    "addressCountry": { "@type": "Country", "name": "PH" }
  },
  "floorSize": { "@type": "QuantitativeValue", "value": "26", "unitCode": "MTK" },
  "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "14.634128", "longitude": "121.073009" },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer", "price": "6879200", "priceCurrency": "PHP",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
    "url": "https://www.lamudi.com.ph/property/..."
  }
}
```

The `img.lamudi.com` image URL is a base64-encoded JSON *image transform request*,
e.g. decoded: `{"bucket":"prd-lifullconnect-backend-b2b-images","key":"ingester/5bd7ca1d-ea2b-4883-bed0-a7e7750450a6/home-1.jpg","brand":"lamudi","edits":{"rotate":null,"resize":{"width":320,"height":240,"fit":"cover"}}}`
— an imgix/thumbor-style on-the-fly resize service. The `key` path starts with
`ingester/`, and listing IDs look like a concatenation of a numeric ID and a UUID
fragment (`41032-73-a7e7750450ef-ea74-5bd7ca66-bf19-48cc`), consistent with a
multi-source listing **ingestion pipeline** (matches LIFULL Connect's Trovit/Mitula
aggregator heritage) rather than a single first-party CMS (inferred).

URL taxonomy (directly observed via breadcrumb + link enumeration): listings are
organized `/buy/{region}/{city}/{barangay}/{property-type}/`, e.g.
`/buy/metro-manila/quezon-city/loyola-heights-1/condo/`. Property-type slugs seen:
`apartment`, `commercial`, `condo`, `foreclosures`, `house`, `land`. Nationwide
province-level slugs are also enumerated (e.g. `/buy/cebu/`, `/buy/bohol/`,
`/buy/cavite/`, `/buy/laguna/`, ~40+ provinces seen in one page's links alone).

## 4. Feature inventory

- **Search filters** (SERP, `/buy/`): Price (min/max, `priceCurrency` hidden input
  fixed to `"PHP"`, CSS class `single-currency` — filter itself is PHP-only),
  Bedrooms (`1`,`2`,`3`,`4`,`5+`), Bathrooms (same scale), Floor/lot area (stepped
  `40 sqm` … `1,000 sqm`), and a 72-option **Amenities** checklist (directly
  enumerated from `data-textvalue` attributes): *Access for people with disabilities,
  Air conditioning, Alarm, Balcony, Built-in wardrobe, Cctv, Cellar, Concierge,
  Electricity, Equipped kitchen, Fireplace, Furnished, Garage, Garden, Green area,
  Grill, Guardhouse, Gym, Heating, Integral kitchen, Intercom, Internet, Jacuzzi,
  Laundry room, Library, Lift, Multipurpose room, Natural gas, Office room,
  Panoramic view, Playground, Roof garden, Sauna, Security, Security door, Service
  room, Storage room, Swimming pool, Tennis court, Terrace, Video cable, Water,
  Water tank, Wifi, Yard* (plus more). Property type and geography are handled as
  URL path facets rather than query-string filters (SEO-friendly).
- **Map**: SERP loads a dedicated `bundle-lamudiSerpMap.js` script, confirming a map
  view exists on the results page. Specific provider (Google Maps/Mapbox/Leaflet) —
  not observed (no matching script tag or `google.maps`/`mapbox`/`leaflet` string
  found in the static HTML; the map is presumably initialized inside the bundle).
- **Gallery/media**: photo gallery plus a **"Virtual tour"** badge/icon
  (`ic-virtualtour.svg`) on at least one listing; a `<wl-favorite listingId="...">`
  save/favorite button; a "Recommended Properties" similar-listings module present
  in markup but rendered `hidden` by default (client-side populated).
- **Agent/lead contact**: an in-page phone-reveal modal
  (`.agency-phone-modal .agency-name`, `.phone-number`) plus — per the `robots.txt`
  disallow list — dedicated form endpoints per channel: WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger,
  generic contact, share, share-by-email, report-listing, and separate
  agent-page vs. developer contact-form variants. A HubSpot-powered
  **"Speak to a Property Expert"** concierge form appears in the (WordPress/Elementor)
  footer, offering "personalized home-buying advice" (branded "Presello Shoppers").
- **Saved search / alerts**: `/saved-search/` and `/email-alert-form/` endpoints
  exist (per `robots.txt`) but require a session — content/UI not directly observed.
- **Accounts/auth**: `/login` path exists; Google One Tap sign-in is wired up
  site-wide. A navbar CSS class `nav-login-proppit` suggests the agent-side login
  points to **Proppit** (EMPG-family agent CRM) — inferred from the class name only,
  no visible label confirmed.
- **Monetization**: (1) a **bank home-loan affiliate directory** in the SERP footer —
  dedicated "Home Loan" landing pages for BPI, RCBC, BDO Unibank, HSBC PH, PNB, China
  Bank, Security Bank Corporation, CTBC Bank, and Metrobank, plus a site-wide
  `/loan-calculator/` nav item; (2) a `bundle-wl_agencyPremium.js` script present on
  SERP and detail pages, indicating a premium/featured agency tier; (3) a distinct
  **"Complex Projects"** / new-developments product line targeting developers
  directly (`/api/v1/projects/`, `/contact-developer-form/`), separate from
  individual agent listings; (4) a **Foreclosures** category as a first-class site
  section (`/buy/foreclosures/`).
- **i18n & currency**: `<meta name="wl-locale" content="enPH">` combines language and
  country into one locale code. The navbar (desktop and mobile-drawer) has both a
  `desktop-language__button`/`drawer-footer__language` and a
  `desktop-currency__button`/`drawer-footer__currency` control, confirming a
  language switcher and a currency switcher both exist in the header chrome —
  however, no `hreflang`/alternate-language `<link>` tags were found (checked
  explicitly, empty result), and only English content plus PHP pricing were
  observed rendered; the actual switcher options were not captured (client-side
  dropdown, not present in the static payload). The listing price *filter* itself is
  PHP-only (`single-currency` CSS class, `priceCurrency` hidden input fixed to PHP).
- **Mobile app**: not observed — no Google Play / App Store links found anywhere on
  the homepage.

## 5. UX & content notes

- Listing descriptions are long, freeform, agent-written marketing copy (not a
  structured spec sheet) — the sample listing's description ran to sub-headed
  sections like "Key Unit Details", "Why This Unit?", "Building Amenities",
  "Location Highlights", ending in a "Schedule a Private Viewing" call-to-action.
  Structured facts (bedrooms, bathrooms, floor size, price) are still separately
  captured in the JSON-LD/DB, so the free text and structured fields coexist rather
  than one being derived from the other.
- Breadcrumbs go five levels deep for a condo listing: For Sale → Condos → Metro
  Manila → Quezon City → Loyola Heights — deeper than a typical SUUMO-style
  region/city breadcrumb, clearly aimed at long-tail neighborhood SEO.
- Foreclosures and new-developments ("Complex Projects") are dedicated top-level
  categories in navigation and sitemaps, not just listing filters — they read as
  separate products with separate monetization, not just facets of "for sale".

## 6. SEO & metadata

Title patterns observed (verbatim):
- Homepage: `Buy, Sell, & Rent Property Online - Real Estate Philippines | Lamudi.com.ph`
- SERP: `Property For Sale in the Philippines | Lamudi`
- Detail: `1 BR Condo Unit for Sale in Studio A, Katipunan, Quezon City | Lamudi.com.ph`
  (dynamic: bedroom count + project/building name + neighborhood + city)

Meta description observed on homepage: *"Find an apartment, condo, office space,
house, and lot for sale or for rent in top locations. Certified #1 real estate
property finder in the Philippines."* `<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">`
is present. `<meta charset="utf-8">` and a standard mobile viewport tag are present.

- **No Open Graph or Twitter Card meta tags** were found anywhere in the homepage
  HTML (explicitly checked for `og:*`/`twitter:*` meta patterns — zero matches).
  This is a real gap: shared links to Lamudi likely render with no rich preview.
- **No `hreflang`/alternate-language `<link>` tags** were found (explicitly checked,
  empty result), despite the header exposing a language-switcher control.
- `robots.txt` `Sitemap:` directives (verbatim), all under `/sitemap/lang/en/`:
  `sitemap-index-home.xml`, `sitemap-index-serp-operations.xml`,
  `sitemap-index-serp-prices.xml`, `sitemap-index-serp-standards.xml`,
  `sitemap-index-serp-remaining.xml`, `sitemap-index-new-developments.xml`, plus
  `sitemap-index-ideal.xml` (no `/lang/en/` prefix) and `journal/post-sitemap.xml`
  (WordPress-style, for the blog). The `/lang/en/` path segment implies a
  per-language sitemap scheme even though only `en` was observed.
- `robots.txt` also blocks a long list of scraper/SEO-tool bots by name (AhrefsBot,
  MJ12bot, DataForSeoBot, Amazonbot, Bytespider, Petalbot, etc.) — standard
  anti-scraping hygiene, consistent with WebFetch getting blocked while a
  browser-UA `curl` succeeded.
- JSON-LD types actually used: `SearchResultsPage` (SERP), `ItemList`,
  `RealEstateListing`, `BreadcrumbList`, `Organization`. No `Product`,
  `AggregateRating`, or `Review` schema was observed.

## 7. Takeaways for property-portal

1. **Adopt — structured data is cheap and Lamudi shows the exact shape to mirror.**
   Add `RealEstateListing` + `BreadcrumbList` + `Organization` JSON-LD to
   `property/[slug]` and the grid page, using the same field names observed above
   (`numberOfBedrooms`, `numberOfBathroomsTotal`, `floorSize.value`/`unitCode`,
   `address.addressRegion`/`addressLocality`, `offers.price`/`priceCurrency`,
   `geo.latitude`/`longitude`). This is free, static-export-compatible, and Lamudi
   doesn't have equally strong OG/Twitter coverage to match it against — a real
   opening.
2. **Adopt — property-portal is already ahead on social sharing; lean into it.**
   Lamudi has zero `og:*`/`twitter:*` tags on its homepage. `property-portal`'s
   DESIGN.md already commits to per-property OG images via `generateMetadata` — that
   is a genuine differentiator worth calling out in the demo pitch, not something to
   change.
3. **Adopt — multi-channel lead contact.** Lamudi devotes five-plus separate
   disallowed form paths to WhatsApp/Viber/Messenger/phone/email contact, which
   signals real usage volume for chat-app-first contact in the PH market. The
   current `Listing.broker` shape (`name, phone, email, line?`) only has a `line`
   field for a JP messaging app; consider adding a WhatsApp deep link
   (`wa.me/<phone>?text=...`) alongside it for the PH side of the audience, since
   Viber/WhatsApp — not LINE — are the dominant PH channels.
4. **Adopt (small) — a five-level breadcrumb / faceted URL taxonomy** for a handful
   of canonical category pages (e.g. `/en/buy/bgc/condo/`) even inside a static
   export, mirroring Lamudi's `/buy/{region}/{city}/{barangay}/{type}/` pattern —
   gives indexable, shareable category pages beyond individual listings without
   adding a backend.
5. **Avoid over-building the amenities filter.** Lamudi's 72-checkbox amenities list
   reflects aggregator scale (ingesting thousands of third-party feeds via what
   looks like a `ingester/`-prefixed pipeline). `property-portal`'s curated ~50-listing
   demo should keep its filter set small and purposeful (current URL-param/`nuqs`
   design is right-sized) rather than copying this breadth.
6. **Note as a cautionary architecture example, not something to copy.** Lamudi's
   stack is a Java/Jetty core app plus a bolted-on WordPress/Elementor CMS layer,
   with an unexplained cross-link to a separate "Presello" brand bleeding into the
   footer of Lamudi-branded pages — visible sprawl from its M&A history (EMPG →
   Dubizzle → DCG → LIFULL Connect). Reinforces that `property-portal`'s single
   Next.js static-export app (per DESIGN.md) is the right-sized choice for a demo
   and should stay that way rather than growing a second CMS/marketing stack.

## Matrix row

Category: PH property portal / listings aggregator (resale, rent, foreclosures, new-developments)
Framework: Server-rendered Java app (Jetty) with page-specific JS bundles built on a custom "wl_"-prefixed web-component library; separate WordPress + Elementor layer for blog/footer marketing content
Host/CDN: AWS CloudFront (`x-cache: Miss from cloudfront`, `x-amz-cf-pop: NRT57-P6`, `via: ...cloudfront.net`); origin `server: Jetty(9.4.57.v20241219)`; not Cloudflare
Search filters: Price (PHP only), bedrooms (1-5+), bathrooms (1-5+), floor/lot area (40-1000+ sqm steps), 72-item amenities checklist, property type as URL facet (apartment/commercial/condo/foreclosures/house/land), region/city/barangay geography facets
Map: bundle-lamudiSerpMap.js confirms a SERP map view exists; specific provider not observed
Saved search/alerts: `/saved-search/` and `/email-alert-form/` endpoints exist (robots.txt) but gated behind login; content not observed
Agent/lead contact: phone-reveal modal + separate WhatsApp/Viber/Messenger/email/report/developer contact-form endpoints (robots.txt); HubSpot "Speak to a Property Expert" concierge form in footer
Auth: `/login` path; Google One Tap (Google Identity Services) sign-in wired site-wide; navbar class `nav-login-proppit` hints at Proppit agent-CRM login (inferred)
Listing data source: multi-source ingestion pipeline (image keys prefixed `ingester/`; composite numeric+UUID listing IDs); image bucket literally named `prd-lifullconnect-backend-b2b-images`, confirming LIFULL Connect backend
Notable API endpoints: `/api/v1/projects/`, `/search-prefetch/`, `/location_suggest_prefetch/`, `/adform/api/events/`, `/generate-seo-friendly-url`, `/api/test/expose`, `/saved-search/`, `/email-alert-form/` (all from robots.txt; not called directly)
Monetization: bank home-loan affiliate pages (BPI, RCBC, BDO Unibank, HSBC PH, PNB, China Bank, Security Bank, CTBC Bank, Metrobank) tied to a site-wide Loan Calculator; premium-agency bundle (`wl_agencyPremium.js`); separate developer-facing "Complex Projects" new-developments product
i18n/currency: `wl-locale` meta = "enPH"; header has language and currency switcher buttons (desktop + mobile) but no hreflang tags and no alternate-language content observed; price filter itself is PHP-only
Mobile app: not observed
Standout feature: bank-partner "Home Loan" affiliate footer directory wired to a dedicated Loan Calculator — direct mortgage-lead monetization built into primary navigation