I'll get my popcorn ready, but I fear it's too late to derail the mighty Zillow.

Agents need constant reminders to put their clients interests ahead of their own.

Withholding listings from any source seems like something in the agents interest, yet is detrimental to the seller.

Yes. I have been staying abreast of the news with Compass and Zillow and Redfin too.

The lawyers will be happy.  Not sure Zillow should not just be the MLS and leave the marketing to a company who knows how to monitize it.

Agreeing with Jason E. Gordon

NOBODY is taking down Zillow.   Redfin struggles to keep up.  Realtor dot com is a laughing joke. 

Other sites are interesting, they may have a small loyal following.

But if you ask the average Buyer (or Seller) what Real Estate Website they go to for Search Houses For Sale, the answer is overwhelmingly "Zillow!"

I was not aware of this suit Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® CRS,ABR,PSA,RCS-D, CFSP . I look forward to hearing more even though I am retired.

So I am confused, Zillow was bad because they scooped all the listings from the MLS and put them on their website and now they are bad because they won't put certain listings on their website.🤔

The thing is, if it's an EXCLUSIVE listing, Clear Cooperation says that once the general public gets wind that the listing is for sale, it HAS to be posted in MLS. If it's advertised on Zillow, it is no longer an Exclusive! 

On this one, I don't see how on earth Z wouldn't win.

Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® CRS,ABR,PSA,RCS-D, CFSP 

I have paid no attention to it, but very interesting to see the verdict. It is the real estate agents who funded the Z to rise to the top. The Z became a genius and a master mind. I don't foresee anyone stopping them. All I can tell to my sellers and buyers is that the "Z" is Zilly when it comes to correct information.

I saw and I read, Thomas. It will be interesting to see what comes of this. Of course, on another level, a bit of a black eye for our industry after all the recent law suits and settlements.

The big boys are fighting over the rules to play on their platform. Nothing is surprising here. Attorney's are making money and the big boys are making power plays. Stay tuned.

Well, this will be fun to watch!

Yes I saw it just now. Good luck to Compass.

meh, not something I keep up with at all.  

I can't wait to see how this unfolds. Interested to see the verdict.

There is no love of the Real Estate industry here Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® CRS,ABR,PSA,RCS-D, CFSP ...but instead a battle of the big bucks.

I was not aware of the lawsuit - not something I care about. My success does not depend on the Z .

My crystal ball says ai will dominate in the future and we will not need MLS, Zillow, etc.  Those who master marketing via ai will shine. 

In the commercial world, the big guys are bringing their exclusive listings back in house and not sharing on platforms. 

When you sign a confidential disclosure, it has an expiration date.  Once that date passes your buyer becomes their buyer in their future marketing of properties in house when you read the fine print before you execute.

Yes, I heard. Following.

Well honestly I don't care what Z does and never have since day one all those years ago.  Have at it boys!!

I’m pretty skeptical about Zillow's actions. I think that perhaps their alleged monopoly practices are unfair or at least problematic. 

If they don’t want to advertise any particular listing, then so what? And I see that could potentially be Zillow’s downfall. How? Buyers, once they catch wind of it, may quit going to their site looking for listings because they'll be afraid they’re missing something, and go somewhere else in search of homes for sale.

On the other hand, I see the legal battle is significant in terms of market fairness and competition. And no matter the outcome, it will impact the real estate industry overall. I’m rooting for Compass on this, and its efforts to challenge Zillow's dominance.

Last, but not least, where is NAR on all this? Are they not our trade organization? It looks to me they no longer represent our interests. And if they don't, why do we need them?

I'm glad Compass is doing this and I fully support them in their effort and wish them the best of luck.  I think their case is strong. 

Zillow's actions were not in the best interests of anyone but themselves, which is something that said to their rep's face in April at the CAR business Summer business meeting.

Zillow not allowing a seller to opt into displaying their listing on their site clearly shows their interest is not aligned with the seller's interest in selling the house, but with their own ability to generate revenue from selling the leads to agents.

I don't like the way either company is handling the market. First and foremost must be the client with the agent having a fiduciary duty to their client.  Compass made the decision to offer this off market option as part of a formal policy within the firm, rather than to address on an as needed basis. While there are some clients that want or need this option- intent is really the open question here- as Compass stands to profit significantly by encouraging agents (potentially) to push clients in this direction- thus keeping commissions in house- and keeping a portion of the inventory off market. Real estate has become a business of increasing transparency- but not anymore. Compass defends this policy by stating that agents at other firms can go into a compass office and access these listings. The nearest Compass office to me is 30 blocks away- a solid 30 minute walk- or a few stops on the subway- not a trip I want to make in this heatwave either way- nor should I have to. 

I can't agree with what Zillow is doing either- as there are some occasional situations that call for an off market home- and their approach punishes agents and clients alike when the client needs to come first.  

Abuse of teal estate rules have been rampant for a couple of decades.  It would be great to have a fair playing field.