Homebuyers opening Compass.com on Tuesday will see a new section called “See It First,” which prominently displays private exclusive and coming-soon listings from the firm’s nine brands before they appear anywhere else.
The brokerage said See It First provides homebuyer transparency with easy access to Compass listings in the first phases of the firm’s three-phase marketing plan, while giving homesellers the opportunity to “test pricing and build buyer demand” without accruing days on market or price drops.
Compass declined to share how long they’ve been working on the project or exactly how much they spent. However, the firm said it’s launching a “multimillion-dollar” nationwide marketing campaign to introduce the feature to consumers, which, according to internal statistics, have increasingly been turning to Compass.com to find listings.
Compass’s first-ever Head of Consumer Search Julie Keef said August traffic to Compass.com increased 56 percent year over year, and that See It First builds on that momentum. Keef joined Compass in March from Redfin, where she served in seven growth and product roles over nine years. Her final role at the portal was vice president of product.
Julie Keef
“With See It First, we’re giving consumers the opportunity to discover more homes earlier,” she said in an emailed statement. “By bringing more homes and local expertise together in one place, we’re making Compass.com an even more valuable destination for buyers to start and continue their home search.”
See It First is the latest puzzle piece in Compass’s overall strategy to challenge how organized real estate (i.e., the National Association of Realtors, the multiple listing services and Zillow) handles listing data ownership and distribution.
The firm’s co-founder and CEO, Robert Reffkin, has steadily pushed back against NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires listings to be entered into the MLS within one business day of public marketing.
The policy has exemptions for office exclusives and Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings; however, Reffkin announced in June 2025 that Compass would not follow CCP or any other national NAR MLS rules. The CEO doubled down on the stance in March 2026, with an open letter lambasting NAR and the MLS system for refusing to give homesellers and their agents the full marketing freedom they deserve.
Compass has been defending its strategy on every front, finding allies — like Rocket Companies, Midwest Real Estate Data and RealTracs — and battling foes — Zillow and other industry leaders — who say the firm’s strategy undercuts market transparency and leads to weaker outcomes for homebuyers and sellers.
The latest update comes from the legal tango between Compass, MRED and Zillow, where a federal judge denied the portal’s bid to block MRED from enforcing its listing rules. Although the court ruled in Compass and MRED’s favor, it “did not itself rule that Zillow’s policies are anti-competitive or issue a broader finding that homeowner choice was determinative in the case,” a previous Inman article explained.
A firm spokesperson declined questions on whether Tuesday’s announcement is part of positioning Compass.com as the hub for co-founder and CEO Robert Reffkin’s idea for a national multiple listing service (MLS) or, at least, to pull consumer attention away from Zillow by refocusing on the firm’s mission to improve the search experience for buyers.
“Together, the redesign and campaign strengthen Compass.com as a destination where consumers can discover more homes earlier,” the spokesperson said.
