Tag Archives: End of IDX

Fun with Abbott Realty Group Listings

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If you haven’t heard the name of Jim Abbott and of his company, ARG Abbott Realty Group, located in San Diego… well, I’d like to welcome you to the real estate industry. Because you have to be brand spankin’ new not to have heard of him and seen the famous video in which he announced that ARG would no longer syndicate listings. Here it is below:

I wrote about the announcement a while back, but in the course of research into some topics (soon upcoming), I ran across some fun facts. So I figured I’d write about them, because they’re not only fun, but thought-provoking.

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Estately Quietly Proves a Business Model

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estately-ss

The Pacific Northwest, where denizens created a religion out of worshipping coffee to overcome the gloom of the rainy months, has somehow become the mecca for technology-based innovation in the real estate industry. Everyone knows about Zillow, of course. Most folks know about Redfin. MarketLeader, and its portal, RealEstate.com are also in the Seattle area and made noise recently within the industry.

Far fewer people know about or think about Estately. But it’s time to give them some thought, because they’re quietly proving out a business model in the ongoing portalization of real estate that’s worth considering.

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The NeighborCity Lawsuits: Pyrrhic Victory, Thy Name is Feist

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Victory is MINE! D’oh!

I haven’t written in a while, because… well, quite frankly, there hasn’t been much of note to write about. Maybe it’s just the end of the year and everyone’s just busy with holiday parties and such, but… not much has piqued my interest.

But then… I realized I missed out on this story from a couple of weeks ago. This one could be nothing, or it could be something very, very big indeed. Basically, the judge in the MRIS copyright lawsuit against NeighborCity clarified his ruling enjoining NeighborCity from using MLS data on its website. And there is… some interesting language in the ruling. Since it isn’t a formal opinion on the case itself, it may mean absolutely nothing.

Then again, if this case keeps going the way it appears to be headed, there may be um… consequences.

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How Do You Like Me Now? On RealEstate.com and IDX

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Photograph: Amy Hahn (no relation to your truly)

Yes, I know, I know. Nobody likes a “I told you so”. It’s obnoxious and childish. But… I just can’t resist! So forgive your humble scribe as I do a victory lap around the Tree of Nostradamus.

About what, you ask?

Well, it appears that RealEstate.com is relaunching as a lead generation website using a very particular model of data harvesting that has various folks up in arms. To take as one example, Brian Boero over at 1000watt:

So, you have what I’m calling a “paper brokerage” leveraging IDX to grow their “lead-to-close marketing system.”

It gets richer:

Unlike Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com, which have spent gazillions negotiating for voluntary access to listings from MLSs and brokers, Market Leader, by virtue of its brokerage licenses, simply grabs the IDX feed.

I’m surprised that Brian is surprised. This was so obvious that I’ve made it one of my Seven Predictions for 2012. And the implications of this is also obvious: End of IDX As We Know It.

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Description is Not Prescription: A Response to Brian Larson on IDX

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Just because I say that smoking will lead to cancer doesn't mean I want you to get cancer, okay?

One of the guys I respect most in this business — indeed, one of the guys I learned the most from just by reading his excellent blog, MLS Tesseract — is Brian Larson of Larson, Sobotka. Brian was a key player in the creating of IDX back in the late 90′s and probably has forgotten more about the subject than I ever knew.

So when Brian takes me to task on a set of views related to IDX… well, I have little choice but the perk up the old ears, pay attention, and see where I might have gone wrong. He writes:

Rob Hahn has said there is no meaningful difference between IDX and syndication and that he thinks brokers pulling out of syndication are a harbinger of IDX’s demise; but I think he’s dead wrong. I’ll try to make my point here in a post considerably shorter than one of Rob’s Notoriously long ones ;-) You can see Rob’s post claiming (erroneously, I think) the equivalence of IDX to syndication here; regarding the Austin “kerfuffle” as evidence of the impending demise of IDX here; and offering further comments about Austin and IDX here.

He goes on to point out a few things where he disagrees with me. For example, he writes:

But Rob has suggested that VOWs are just as good. I disagree: VOWs are not a satisfactory substitute (so far) for IDX.

Upon further review, I don’t believe we have any disagreement here. What we might have is a failure to communicate — namely, the difference between describing something vs. advocating for something. There are a few errors of interpretation on Brian’s part — such as the statement above about IDX being just as good as VOW — which I am happy to correct.

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Austin’s IDX Kerfuffle and Antitrust Issues

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You know who doesn't have an opinion on IDX? These guys.

So that whole Austin IDX kerfuffle is back in the news again, courtesy of Inman:

A contingent of Austin Realtors say listing agents should be clearly identified when brokers and agents publicize each other’s listings on their websites.

With two of the city’s prominent luxury brokers leading the charge, they’ve asked the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) to change current policies governing the display of Internet Data Exchange (IDX) listings.

An equally vocal group of ABoR members contends that promoting other brokers’ listings on their websites is one thing, but promoting their agents is quite another. They object to a proposed IDX rule change that would require them to identify listing agents on the properties they showcase on their sites.

I wrote about the Austin IDX issue a while back, but this Inman article introduces a new element to the story:

Some listing brokers and agents who are pushing for rule changes also want sellers to have the ability to opt out of having their listings included in feeds of shared listing data, without giving up their right to advertise their home on the listing broker’s website.

A selective, listing-by-listing “opt out” of IDX listing feeds is frowned upon by antitrust regulators. Model rules drawn up by the National Association of Realtors and adopted by most multiple listing services (MLSs) require that brokers take an “all-in” or “all-out” approach. (Emphasis added)

Izzatso? Since I covered most of the issues in the Austin IDX Kerfuffle in a previous post on the subject, I want to focus on this one aspect of antitrust and IDX.

I must now solemnly warn you that I am not licensed to practice law in the State of Texas, and that anything you read in here is just my opinion and does not constitute a legal opinion. Please consult your own attorney for actual legal advice. And so on and so forth.

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A Small Step, Fraught With Significance: ListHub Introduces “MLS Preferred” Concept

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Oh my...

Back in November of 2010, I wrote about Move’s acquisition of ListHub and what it might mean for “Syndication Quality”. I thought then that the reason why Move acquired ListHub was strategic — to control the source of listing data, in order to impose on its main competitors the same restrictions that Move had on operating REALTOR.com:

There was little doubt in my mind when the acquisition was announced that what Move was doing was a strategic maneuver to neutralize some of the advantages that its big competitors had — freedom to do whatever they wanted with the data, given the widespread ignorance of brokers and agents on intellectual property issues.  Having spoken to Messrs. Berkowitz and Samuelson, as well as other players in the drama, I have confirmed that this is indeed the mutual vision of the Move and ListHub teams.

“Let’s see how Trulia and Zillow compete if they have to live up to our standards of data protection and data integrity” might be something Move executives never actually said, but I rather think they are thinking it.

Well, it only took a year and a half, but I believe we’re starting to see the strategy be implemented:

ListHub, the largest syndicator of real estate listings and website analytics, today announced the launch of the ListHub Preferred Publisher Program. Real estate brokers syndicating listings through ListHub’s Preferred Publisher Program can now quickly identify preferred publishers and publisher rules, rate publisher websites and access reports through the control panel. The new features bring greater transparency, control and protection to real estate brokers as they syndicate listings to multiple publishers. ListHub is operated by Move, Inc., (Nasdaq: MOVE), the leader in online real estate.

Earlier this week, prior to the press release, I had the rare opportunity to get a demo from Luke Glass, General Manager, and Mark Wise, VP Operations and Technology, of ListHub of these new features, and to ask them some questions about what they were doing. Well, what they’re doing is a small step, but it is one fraught with real significance for real estate data policy.

There are two things in the new ListHub that work together to create the significance. Let’s dive in, shall we?

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In Which I Try to Make Sense of the Austin IDX Kerfuffle

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Making Sense... Out of Nothing At All... (apologies to Air Supply)

I had to interrupt my series on Redfin 3.0 and what it might mean for brokerages because parts of the RE.net just blew up over the past day or two. AgentGenius (AGBeat?) reports that there is a dispute going on in Austin, Texas, between a group of brokers and agents (who mostly serve the luxury market) and the local MLS about IDX policy. Although this sort of thing was inevitable in my view, I take no pleasure in getting my Nostradamus points.

I have written that one cannot be anti-syndication but be pro-IDX, since the two are actually the same thing, intended to serve the same purpose. Reasonable people disagree, and that’s wonderful; we advance through debate and discussion.

But reading through the AGBeat post and the comments there, I think there’s a lot more of an emotional response than reasoned discussion going on. I thought I should make a small (okay, large and lengthy) attempt to try to clear up some of the mess so that we can focus on the core issues in the debate.

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Deceased Equine Shall Be Assaulted: Start Thinking Beyond IDX

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Oh jeez, not another post on syndication and IDX...

It’s late, and I’m fairly certain that this horse I’m about to pound on some more is long since departed for greener pastures in the hereafter… but hey, what the hell, right?

So by now all readers of Notorious ROB have seen the latest developments in the Syndication Serenade:

This carousel is making me dizzy!

The responses from the peanut gallery are… well, predictable. You have the lamentations of the Transparency Mafia, the chortling of the KillZillThrill Cult, various declarations of how bass-ackwards the real estate industry is, and people who just love that the MLS is “fighting back”, and so on and so forth.

And yet, no one appears to be picking up on the most important trend here. So let me beat this dead horse one more time: brokers, REALTORS, vendors, Romans, friends, countrymen… it’s time to start making your plans for the post-IDX world.

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