We have reached a Direct Feed Agreement With Zillow!  Why did we spend so much time, money and effort to negotiate a direct feed through the law firm of Larson Skinner?

In a nutshell: Greater Listing Control and Better Agent Benefits and Protections

We wanted our brokers and agents to be able to easily execute independent business decisions on where and how best to syndicate their listings. The MLS Board has worked tirelessly to sort through the many options to deliver your listing data to advertising portals. Each listing input now contains a Zillow/Trulia/Hotpad/StreetEasy syndication option in the export tab, much like Realtor.com or ListHub.  This data will begin flowing April 7th, 2015 so make sure any changes to existing listings (to opt-out) is done before then.**(unless the brokerage has opted out of such syndication services entirely)

We have advocated for greater accuracy and greater agent/broker control and attribution that standard template agreements couldn’t achieve. After many merges, acquisitions, court filings and general unrest in the syndication world, the MLS Board hired a top data attorney to represent OUR BEST interests in securing a direct license agreement with Zillow, the parent company of Trulia, Hotpads and StreetEasy.

What does this mean for you? The decision is in your hands…

This means, in addition to sending listings to the list of ListHub sites, we will also provide a feed directly to Zillow, having received negotiated benefits in exchange for this direct access. This also means, if there are any issues with the display of a listing on Zillow, we can have those errors corrected within 24 hours; statuses and prices will be updated every 15 minutes, much like Realtor.com.

Unless the brokerage has removed the option, the MLS export tab on each listing will allow the agent to syndicate directly to Zillow. This will include use on the sister sites and also includes sites using Zillow Apps, such as Yahoo, AOL or other sites.  As with the current system, brokers and agents may opt-out of providing their listings to Zillow or any syndicator simply by deselecting the syndication within the MLS.  http://www.BerkshireRealtors.net/syndication/

What are the benefits to you / agreement provisions ?

• Zillow must display of listings, in full, that wish to be syndicated at no cost. Featured listings can be displayed first, but no listing can pay to be exclusive. Search results will be based on criteria, not paid placement

• The Listing Agent’s information will be displayed on all listings. This includes the firm name and the listing agent name and phone number, in plain sight with no additional clicks or scrolls. Address and contact additional information will be available on the Listing Agent’s profile, if completed.
• The listing agent information will be displayed first and no one other than the listing agent will be pre-selected as the choice for a consumer’s contact.

• When ads for other brokers are included, the listing broker will be clearly distinguished.

• No comments or blogs about a property will be allowed on the listing page.

• Agent ratings will only be accepted by buyers or seller who have worked with the agent on the property. Agents can challenge any rating, can eliminate ratings that are not from actual buyers/sellers with whom they have worked and can also eliminate agent ratings entirely by deleting their profile.

• MLS data may NOT be altered, and Berkshire MLS data trumps all other property data obtained from other sources.

• Zillow will provide a redirect link back to your website, if a link is provided in the MLS in the Listing Export tab.

• Zillow agrees to abide by the Code of Ethics in display of your data.

• Zillow will make changes in no more than 24 hours, but will use efforts to update data at least every 15 minutes.

• We have provided rights to use data for active listings only, (no sold data) for display on websites for consumer non-commercial use. Also for creating Zestimates, reports and statistical works.

• After listing expires, sells or is withdrawn, the non-creative data can be retained (# bedrooms, baths, heating systems, etc..) Creative data (copyrightable) such as remarks, directions, marketing headlines and photos can no longer be used by Zillow after a listing is off-market.

• Zillow will provide leads to listing agent at no charge, error reports to the MLS, data metrics to gauge effectiveness of website and support responses in under 24 hours.