When a billion dollar buyout hits the headlines, it’s not long before others start imagining they too could hit the jackpot. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s venture capital reporter John Cook has provided an analysis of the residential real estate Web site Zillow’s chances of being the next big winner.

The key similarities are that 1) both companies hope to capitalize on the shift of advertising dollars to the Web; 2) both allow consumers to search for information that was previously difficult or impossible to attain, and 3) both have grown through word of mouth publicity.

As Cook jokes, eyeballs are back in when revenues can’t be found in Web 2.0 companies. Zillow defends its low individual hits count by saying that these are people who own homes and are thinking of making a big financial transaction so they are high quality eyeballs.

Zillow has more start-up capital and more employees than YouTube. If Zillow doesn’t become the big brand in real estate, others will because the information available about comparables will be too valuable for sellers who want to avoid Realtors. And even if there were a big buyer out there, the company says it’s not for sale. It’s obviously waiting until it becomes the undisputed leader in the online real estate space before it looks to hook up with the likes of Google or Yahoo.