I recall chatting with colleagues many years ago about what I and most of my peers considered to be some rather outrageous practices of Zillow, Streeteasy, etc. I always asked why the brokerage industry allowed itself to be bullied so relentlessly, especially around the issue of strangers buying their way into being named the contact on our exclusive listings as if they represented them. What was the general consensus? Zillow could "cut us off and put us out of business" with the click of a switch. Back then we were really, really small, and yes, the big players did have this power, perhaps? Why were so many other brokerages cutting backroom deals and not fighting back? It flabbergasted me why we never pushed back but the answer was clear: when an entity builds big power, it has the ability to coerce you to do things their way, or suffer the consequences.

Yesterday, Compass filed a lawsuit against Zillow. It is important to note that Zillow is NOT initiating a ban on private listings. It's a ban on listings that are publicly marketed outside of Zillow for more than 1 day. Ken Dintzer, a partner in the antitrust division of law firm Crowell & Moring who led the U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit against Google, is representing Compass. Has Zillow become the gatekeeper of the real estate industry? Has Zillow become a monopoly of sorts? Monopolies can exert excessive influence over suppliers, distributors, and even governments, potentially leading to policies and practices that benefit the monopoly at the expense of others. Is Zillow's policy that penalizes agents and homeowners for marketing outside its ecosystem anti-competitive and/or anti free-market? Did Zillow collude with Redfin and Exp? We will find out soon. Imagine if Amazon banned sellers who list on Shopify or Google de-listed businesses that advertise elsewhere?

What might be the loudest proof of this being a potential monopoly that has the capacity to do extreme damage to anyone who dares to question new policies? Simple, it may just be the virtual silence of most brokerages. Fear. Yup, the silence is quite deafening.