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Partner Interview
Published May 5, 2025

Zillow: The Role of a Multiple Listing Service

Executive Bio

Former Director at Bright MLS

Interview Transcript

Disclaimer: This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. In Practise is an independent publisher and all opinions expressed by guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of In Practise.

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600. Could you elaborate on whether they are organized by areas or geographic regions? And secondly why didn't they become siloed or like homes.com themselves rather than rely on others?

First, some MLS do try to compete with Zillow. They call them public-facing portals. There's one I built for Bright MLS called Nestfully, intended to be a competing portal against Zillow, homes.com, realtor.com, and others. It's a very under-budgeted effort. MLSs do not have the money, capabilities, or staff to run a consumer portal.

This is a snippet of the transcript.to get full access.

600. Could you elaborate on whether they are organized by areas or geographic regions? And secondly why didn't they become siloed or like homes.com themselves rather than rely on others?

For instance, Zillow has spent billions of dollars acquiring keywords inside Google. In the United States, 65% of the time, when people look for real estate, they type the word Zillow, not real estate, due to keyword reinforcement.

This is a snippet of the transcript.to get full access.

600. Could you elaborate on whether they are organized by areas or geographic regions? And secondly why didn't they become siloed or like homes.com themselves rather than rely on others?

Some smart portals or MLS tried to do this, and they exist today. But if you look at their traffic numbers, they're at the bottom of the list. Zillow touches around 65% of transactions because they're so strong.

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