I personally dislike the Zillow business model and the NAR/MLS system that enables Zillow. For the NAR to declare that real estate is non-monopolistic and then use fines and penalties to enforce Zillow's monopoly on listing information rubs me wrong. Follow The Money remains a valuable strategy for life in general and real estate in particular.
As an overview, agents and their brokerages perform the heavy lifting to bring homes to market. Agents perform the data entry to the Multiple Listing Service. The MLS distributes that information via the NAR IDX (National Association of Realtors Internet Data Exchange) system to +1000 affiliated websites, including Zillow. Zillow generates buyer leads from this information and preferntially distributes the leads to agents who pay Zillow on a subscription model in zipcodes of interest. The brokerage that brought the property to market is listed on the page; however, they will be excluded from the Zillow "Contact Agent" lead distribution unless they are subscribers.
This is an improvement on the past Zillow model where only the Zillow subscribed agents would show with the listing agent being buried.
The NAR Clear Cooperation Policy mandates that real estate listings be submitted to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) within one business day of public marketing, promoting transparency and fairness in real estate transactions.
NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy Battle
Zillow is fighting to preserve their business model as Private Listing Networks (PLNs) rise to challenge Zillow's dominance.
The NAR announced its Multiple Listing Options of Sellers (MLOS) policy which allowed sellers to withhold their home from the IDX feeds and not be syndicated to other websites. This would allow for market testing and price modification without incurring the Days On Market penalty.
(Days on Market are seen by the public as a "Scarlet Letter". A house remaining on the market for +60 days may cause suspicion, wariness & doubt and acccompanying thoughts of "what's wrong with it?") Zillow under cut the new MLOS policy with its listing access standards policy by demanding all publicly offered homes be entered within 24 hours or face fines and be withheld permanently from Zillow. Enforcement began in late June 2025 with fines as high as $15K. When most Real Estate agents net ~$50K/year. The price of non-compliance is simply too high for most agents to contemplate challenging it.
Compass is the most vocal about its usage of PLNs with its 3-phase marketing plan which focuses on :
1. Price Testing which avoids incrementing the DOM - Scarlet Letter while accruing market feedback
2. "Coming Soon" Anticipation plus strategy refinement
3. Go Live with maximum exposure
Below is the Compass case against Zillow and the NAR Clear Cooperation Policy.
To preserve its monopoly, Zillow is using collusion, industry-changing rules, threats, financial penalties, and bans to eliminate differentiated marketing strategies.
In meeting with Compass in April 2025, Zillow offered various terms for a potential partnership, including a variety of product offerings and benefits that Zillow predicted would result in Compass earning an additional $1.3-$1.6 billion annually and doubling Compass’ market share. Zillow also offered Compass the opportunity to double-end more transactions. Compass rejected Zillow’s offer and demands.
While the majority of sellers may want their listings published widely, sellers also trust their agents and brokers to exercise their professional skills to sell the house fast, for top dollar, with the minimum amount of hassle and maximum legal protection. If brokerages can claim (even a small number of) exclusive listings, they start a flywheel effect in that market. Zillow expects PLNs to erode their monopoly on listing traffic and eventually erode their revenue.
Zillow will counter this by targeting entire brokerages to maximize collateral damage which increases the impact and outrage with more innocent parties affected. This could cause sellers to switch agents or agents to switch brokerages with the aim of getting the listing on Zillow. If an agent withholds a listing, Zillow plans to throttle the listing quality of ALL of the agent's other listings in retribution.
Read the full thing: HERE
If you have to force or mandate someone to use your product, you have a poor product.
Meanwhile, Double Win Realty offers the strongest guarantee in the Business. Your MS House SOLD or We'll Buy It*
Get the customer what they want.
As an overview, agents and their brokerages perform the heavy lifting to bring homes to market. Agents perform the data entry to the Multiple Listing Service. The MLS distributes that information via the NAR IDX (National Association of Realtors Internet Data Exchange) system to +1000 affiliated websites, including Zillow. Zillow generates buyer leads from this information and preferntially distributes the leads to agents who pay Zillow on a subscription model in zipcodes of interest. The brokerage that brought the property to market is listed on the page; however, they will be excluded from the Zillow "Contact Agent" lead distribution unless they are subscribers.
This is an improvement on the past Zillow model where only the Zillow subscribed agents would show with the listing agent being buried.
The NAR Clear Cooperation Policy mandates that real estate listings be submitted to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) within one business day of public marketing, promoting transparency and fairness in real estate transactions.
NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy Battle
Zillow is fighting to preserve their business model as Private Listing Networks (PLNs) rise to challenge Zillow's dominance.
The NAR announced its Multiple Listing Options of Sellers (MLOS) policy which allowed sellers to withhold their home from the IDX feeds and not be syndicated to other websites. This would allow for market testing and price modification without incurring the Days On Market penalty.
(Days on Market are seen by the public as a "Scarlet Letter". A house remaining on the market for +60 days may cause suspicion, wariness & doubt and acccompanying thoughts of "what's wrong with it?") Zillow under cut the new MLOS policy with its listing access standards policy by demanding all publicly offered homes be entered within 24 hours or face fines and be withheld permanently from Zillow. Enforcement began in late June 2025 with fines as high as $15K. When most Real Estate agents net ~$50K/year. The price of non-compliance is simply too high for most agents to contemplate challenging it.
Compass is the most vocal about its usage of PLNs with its 3-phase marketing plan which focuses on :
1. Price Testing which avoids incrementing the DOM - Scarlet Letter while accruing market feedback
2. "Coming Soon" Anticipation plus strategy refinement
3. Go Live with maximum exposure
Below is the Compass case against Zillow and the NAR Clear Cooperation Policy.
To preserve its monopoly, Zillow is using collusion, industry-changing rules, threats, financial penalties, and bans to eliminate differentiated marketing strategies.
In meeting with Compass in April 2025, Zillow offered various terms for a potential partnership, including a variety of product offerings and benefits that Zillow predicted would result in Compass earning an additional $1.3-$1.6 billion annually and doubling Compass’ market share. Zillow also offered Compass the opportunity to double-end more transactions. Compass rejected Zillow’s offer and demands.
While the majority of sellers may want their listings published widely, sellers also trust their agents and brokers to exercise their professional skills to sell the house fast, for top dollar, with the minimum amount of hassle and maximum legal protection. If brokerages can claim (even a small number of) exclusive listings, they start a flywheel effect in that market. Zillow expects PLNs to erode their monopoly on listing traffic and eventually erode their revenue.
Zillow will counter this by targeting entire brokerages to maximize collateral damage which increases the impact and outrage with more innocent parties affected. This could cause sellers to switch agents or agents to switch brokerages with the aim of getting the listing on Zillow. If an agent withholds a listing, Zillow plans to throttle the listing quality of ALL of the agent's other listings in retribution.
Read the full thing: HERE
If you have to force or mandate someone to use your product, you have a poor product.
Meanwhile, Double Win Realty offers the strongest guarantee in the Business. Your MS House SOLD or We'll Buy It*
Get the customer what they want.
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