Real Estate Agents' Favorability of Zillow's Marketing Services

Abstract

Many factors affect the complexity of the real estate industry. One such factor is social media and marketing sites. Before the 21st century and the internet revolution, real estate professionals were the exclusive holders of all information involving real estate transactions, but the Internet has changed this power dynamic. With the rise of public Multiple Listing Service (MLS) websites such as Zillow, this once hard to find data Become available to the public. The website Zillow has since grown into a powerhouse in the real estate industry. Zillow services range from complex marketing and advertising to a self-listing service potentially negating the need of an agent. This research project seeks to examine how real estate agents view Zillow both on favorability and how they feel Zillow has added value to agents. An analysis of the various aspects of Zillow's marketing services shows a negative favorability towards Zillow by real estate agents. It can be concluded that real estate agents' negative viewpoint is due to Zillow's threat to the need of agents.