Zillow Launches Listings Showcase Premium Product Nationwide as Antitrust Lawsuit Challenged by MLSs

Zillow has announced that Listings Showcase, its premium exposure product for listing agents, is now available nationwide having first been launched in June 2023 in select regional markets.

The product's nationwide debut sees the Seattle-based portal company add another string to its bow and switch up how it monetises agents.

Whereas Zillow's flagship Premier Agent product sees the company charge buyers' agents for leads and also charge buyers' agents on a commission share basis in its so-called 'enhanced markets', Listings Showcase is Zillow's first real attempt to monetise the other side of the transaction.

Agents who pay for Listings Showcase get increased exposure and enhanced media for their listings including AI-selected high-resolution scrolling hero images, room-by-room photo organization and interactive floor plans. According to a company press release, these listings receive 68% more page views, 66% more saves and 63% more shares than similar non-Showcase listings.

“Listing Showcase is a first-of-its-kind experience that transports home shoppers into a home virtually, unlike anything else available today — saving time for home shoppers and attracting serious buyers.

This product is a prime example of ShowingTime+’s work to provide tech solutions that make the whole process easier for everyone involved in a home sale," Cynthia Taylor, vice president, ShowingTime+.

The move to lean into a product that monetises listings agents comes amid increased competition for Zillow in the shape of CoStar-based Homes.com which also seeks to monetise listings agents. Another Zillow competitor, the News Corp-owned Realtor.com, has also recently released a similar product to Listings Showcase as the battle to get into the sell side marketing budget heats up in the US.

Listings Showcase is being operated by Zillow's ShowingTime+ division.

Bought by Zillow in 2021 for $500 million, ShowingTime provides automation and scheduling services for home viewings as well as stats and analytics around homebuyer activity. Zillow has built a new division around the ShowingTime product, known as ShowingTime+, which incorporates several agent-facing products and services including Listings Showcase.

ShowingTime+ is currently suing several regional MLSs over their decision to exclude ShowingTime's showing management software from their agent-facing platforms. The portal operator claims that the MLSs are looking to "monopolize the market".

This week two of the MLSs named in the suit, Arizona Regional MLS and Wisconsin-based Metro MLS, filed a motion to have the lawsuits dismissed claiming that Zillow's true grievance “is not that the MLS Defendants are engaging in anticompetitive practices, but that ShowingTime—the dominant provider of showing management services nationally—is (ironically) now facing competition in a few regions.”