Zillow.Com: Unmarking Territory
Posted on August 9th, 2007 by Jonathan Dalton
When Zillow.Com first gave the public the opportunity to report homes for sale, adding such homes in my farm areas was a no-brainer. Greg referred to the practice as peeing on trees, I simply was happy to be marking territory with Tobey’s picture.
Such a simple act was the subject of considerable debate here and elsewhere. MLS rules prohibit one agent from advertising another brokerage’s listings without written permission. I and others argued that we weren’t “advertising” in the truest sense. Rather, we were doing little more than presenting a fact - this home is for sale.
Advertising rules required the listing brokerage to be displayed prominently, just as they are on the IDX searches on my website, and all Zillow entries were duly marked.
Unfortunately, that functionality - the ability to enter the name of the listing brokerage - is gone. And so it is that I’ve spent time I expected to spend marking territory unmarking the very same territory. Because without the ability to enter the name of the listing brokerage, I cannot report the information at all.
Zillow’s undergone a handful of changes over the past few weeks. My assumption is the change was made with little thought given to possible consequences. It would seem to be in Zillow’s best interest to allow the information to be entered and give the nod to a state’s advertising rules. In the area in which I had marked the listings, the total homes for sale fell 70% once my reports were withdraw. That can’t be good for a portal that openly seeks listings information.
Hopefully, this will be one change they reverse in short order.
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Just want to make sure that I am understanding you right. Zillow is not allowing the listing office information to be shown, but is keeping the identifiers information?
And now you cannot be a part of it because the listing office information is what made this service kosher in your mind with your mls?
Yes to the first, no to the second.
State rules are that the listing broker’s info needs to be displayed. The listing broker’s info appears on IDX feeds, for example.
The ability to enter the listing broker’s info is gone. And so I pulled off any of the homes I had reported for sale.
Jonathan- I hope you were able to leave the photo you took in your zestifarm.
Didn’t have to remove any photos, but that’s a different story. I’ve been mulling over the photo idea … once the weather cools off, I just may do it.
Heh- What’s the matter with you? We are 100 w/ 90% humidity. I thought Phoenix was a lovely DRY heat!
Dude, my sister lives in Spring. I’ve been there to watch the mosquitoes carrying off house cats. Best I can tell there’s all of two good weeks of weather there and they aren’t consecutive days.