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CoStar-owned Homes.com is offering to “boost” property listings on its platform that have otherwise been prohibited by rival Zillow under the portal’s new private listings ban, signficantly ramping up a feud between the platforms.
Dismissing Zillow’s rule as a “blacklist” against private listings, CoStar Group CEO Andy Florance on Thursday told Inman the “Boost” tool it rolled out during first-quarter earnings on April 29 will now be available for listing brokers and homeowners who have been thwarted by the ban in an effort to extend the reach of their marketing across the Homes.com platform and through listing alerts.
Andy Florance | Photo credit: CoStar
“Homes.com is going to support any agent who gets blackballed or blacklisted on Zillow, and boost their listing,” he told Inman exclusively on Thursday, adding that access will be free to those impacted by Zillow. “We don’t think it’s right to ban people’s listings for your economic interest.”
Homes.com Boost enables listing brokers and homeowners to increase marketing visibility for a single listing for a one-time fee of $260, according to the company. Boosted listings will be included on the first page of a homebuyer’s search results and prominently featured in emailed neighborhood, community and school content, and listing alerts. The boost will last until the listing closes.
Boosted listings are also prioritized in Homes.com’s targeted ads across all social media platforms and sites like CNN, ESPN or The New York Times.
Listing brokers and homeowners can access Homes.com Boost through the product’s homepage, where they’ll provide their listing’s address. Florance said Homes.com will be able to immediately flag a banned listing and waive the fee. After completing the Boost registration, listing brokers and homeowners will have access to a dashboard that enables them to track total listing views, retargeted ad views, leads, and other key metrics.
The Boost feature is geared toward listing agents who aren’t Homes.com members and want to test Homes.com’s marketing features, an FAQ page explained. Homes.com members will continue to have access to Homes.com marketing for listings banned on Zillow.
Redfin also announced a ban on private listings, which will go into effect at an unspecified date. Florance didn’t speak to Redfin’s ban; however, the Boost offer will likely apply to listings banned on the Seattle-based firm’s site as well.
Zillow declined to comment on Homes.com’s announcement. Redfin did not immediately respond for a request for comment on Friday.
“Listing agents and homeowners can begin boosting their listings now,” Florance said. “I think it’ll make it tougher for Zillow to ban, right? Because if agents are like, ‘Well shoot, I don’t have to be over there, I can be over here and my name is on my listing, my photograph’s on my listing and I’m getting the leads, it’s very appealing. When my listing is on Zillow, some other agents get the leads for my listing. Some other agents get in the credit for my listing.'”
“Agents like our business model that doesn’t divert the leads better,” he said. “This is something that provides a really solid, better alternative.”
CoStar’s move comes as Zillow Group readies itself to begin banning listings this month.
The ban impacts listings that aren’t added to the multiple listing service (MLS) within 24 hours of being publicly marketed. Zillow said public marketing includes yard signs, social media posts and brokerage private listing networks (PLN) where consumers must log into a site to see listings.
The new rule reinforces the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy, which states listings must be entered into the MLS within one business day of public marketing.
Zillow said “coming soon,” office exclusives, and Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings (DMEL), which enables sellers to ask their broker to delay the public marketing of their listing through an IDX feed, are A-OK and safe from being banned, as long as listing brokers are adhering to NAR’s guidance for each listing status.
Zillow’s ban has split the industry, with prominent leaders quickly taking sides.
EXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja and NextHome CEO James Dwiggins have been Zillow’s loudest cheerleaders, with both executives praising the portal for protecting consumer rights and listing transparency.
On the other side of the aisle, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has skewered Zillow’s ban, as his company leans into its “Three-Phase Marketing Strategy,” which sees properties marketed privately first, then marketed as “coming soon” second, and finally entered into a local multiple listing service in the third and last stage of the process.
Reffkin and Florance have joined forces in recent weeks, with the duo aligning itself against Zillow.
“Homes.com’s decision ensures that homeowners who choose a more tailored pre-marketing strategy won’t be penalized, as boosted listings on Homes.com will receive premium placement and increased traffic on one of the fastest-growing real estate platforms in the country,” Reffkin told Inman in an emailed statement on Thursday.
