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A week after Zillow Group announced its controversial listing access standard that bans privately marketed listings on Zillow and Trulia, Zillow Group Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson penned a post on Linkedin defending the company’s decision and clarifying points of confusion, primarily around Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings (DMEL).
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Errol Samuelson
“At Zillow, we believe that every buyer, seller and agent deserves equal access to information,” he said. “Our new listing access standards — requiring that a listing marketed to some buyers should be available to all buyers — reinforce this belief.”
“While a few argue that buyers and sellers might benefit from exclusive private listings, the reality is that they create an uneven playing field,” he added. “Buyers who are not able to access these hidden listings are at a significant disadvantage, missing out on potential opportunities simply because they aren’t aware of the listings or were already working with an agent who also didn’t have access to these listings. A healthy housing market thrives on competition and transparency.”
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Samuelson said Zillow Group’s listing access standard, which bans listings that aren’t added to the multiple listing service (MLS) within 24 hours of public marketing, doesn’t apply to these categories of listings:
- True private listings on MLS for sellers who need privacy throughout the life of the listing and never intend to market it online
- Office exclusives that are within a brokerage company but not publicly marketed or available to consumers directly
- Coming Soon and all other pre-marketed listings put into the MLS and distributed to all participants for display
- Delayed marketing listings put into the MLS and distributed to all participants for display
- For sale by owner listings
- Rental listings
- New construction listings sold by the builder
“What isn’t okay is a listing publicly marketed to some buyers but hidden from others,” he said. “That’s the line … The goal isn’t to catch anyone unaware; the goal is to encourage consumer transparency.”
The Zillow leader chastized industry members who spread “misinformation” about the company’s motivations and sought to discover “loopholes” to circumvent the ban.
“Since we announced our standards on April 10, there have been many reactions across the industry and beyond,” he said. “We knew there would be. Most have been supportive, including from some surprising voices who aren’t always ‘pro-Zillow’ but are, in fact, pro-consumer like we are.”
“There are also some voices spreading misinformation and looking for loopholes as they try to undermine our consumer-first position and capitalize on a moment to lean into the microphone,” he added. “These ‘what ifs’ are intended to distract from the core of this pro-consumer stance.”
Samuelson said Zillow Group will explain the logistics of the ban before it goes into effect in May.
“Zillow was founded to empower consumers with real estate information and to help them make thoughtful, informed decisions. And we know great agents and brokers are experts at informing, educating and advising their clients,” he said. “No matter the tools or the technology, agents cannot do their best work when they are unable to compete freely and fairly, earning business based on the value they offer, not because they are members of a private listing club.”
Zillow Group’s listing access standards marked a new chapter in the fight over the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), which NAR leaders amended on March 25 to include a new delayed marketing exemption under a new Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy. The exemption allows listing brokers, at the informed request of homesellers, to delay the syndication of their listing to sites like Zillow through an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed.
Proponents and opponents of the CCP each took the addition of Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings as a win, with proponents praising NAR for standing against pressure to axe the rule under lingering antitrust fears and opponents largely taking such listings as another step toward full seller choice.
However, Zillow Group’s ban added fuel to longstanding debates over CCP, PLNs and antitrust litigation, with major industry players quickly — and passionately — choosing sides.
EXp Realty and NextHome immediately pledged to follow Zillow Group’s listing access standard, with eXp launching advisory forms that educate homesellers about the potential downsides associated with private listings. Redfin also announced a listing ban, noting the importance of maintaining a transparent marketplace for buyers, sellers and agents.
Meanwhile, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance cast Zillow’s move as an anticompetitive “power play” rooted in fear that agents and consumers may abandon the platform if PLNs are allowed to thrive.
Both sides have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to adjudicate the matter, but the department has yet to comment.
