Compass Sues to Stop ‘Zillow Ban’

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Compass Sues to Stop ‘Zillow Ban’

Compass, the real estate brokerage, claims that Zillow, the website that has 227 million unique visitors a month, has conspired to maintain a monopoly over digital home listing

Real estate giant Compass is suing Zillow, alleging that the online property website is violating antitrust laws with a new rule that bans home listings from its platform if they appear on any other service for more than 24 hours before being posted on Zillow.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Compass claims that “Zillow has sought to rely on anticompetitive tactics to protect its monopoly and revenues in violation of the antitrust laws.”

Compass says that Zillow has implemented an exclusionary policy that says if a home seller and their real estate agent market their property off Zillow for more than one day, that Zillow and its allies, Redfin and eXp Realty, will ban that home from being listed on their search platforms.

“The Zillow Ban seeks to ensure that all home listings in this country are steered on to its dominant search platform so Zillow can monetize each home listing and protect its monopoly,” Compass said in the lawsuit.

Compass alleges that the ‘Zillow Ban’ was enacted to prevent rivals from competing against it and reduces homeowner choice.

“In a free and competitive market, competitors’ products and strategies should rise and fall on merit—not the whims of a monopolist gatekeeper like Zillow,” Compass said.