Zillow CEO: There’s no boycott — ‘Compass is a partner’ 

Editor's note: Real Estate News is following the preliminary injunction hearing in Compass v. Zillow this week. Read our top takeaways from witness testimony and more.

It was CEO vs. CEO this week in New York, with the leaders of the nation's largest brokerage company and the leading home search portal testifying at a preliminary injunction hearing in Compass' lawsuit against Zillow over listing rules. A judge will decide in the coming weeks whether Zillow can continue to block Compass' private exclusive listings on its website.

Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman took the stand on day two of the hearing, refuting many of the claims lobbed on Nov. 18 by Compass CEO Robert Reffkin. Wacksman was more collegial in his testimony than Reffkin, who repeatedly referred to Zillow as a bully that used intimidation tactics to maintain its dominance. 

Wacksman focused largely on the motivation behind the company's listing access standards (transparency), his relationship with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman (not conspiratorial) and how Zillow views Compass (as a partner).

Zillow's competition — and tactics 

Compass attorney Kenneth Dintzer pressed Wacksman on Zillow's listing access standards (LAS) — which are at the core of the lawsuit — questioning the company's intentions and timing. Dintzer also asked about a series of phone calls and text messages between Wacksman and Kelman, which Compass has claimed is evidence of collusion between the leaders.  

Who does Zillow compete with? Not Compass, according to Wacksman, countering Reffkin's characterization of Compass as "a brokerage firm and an online search portal" a day earlier. "Zillow considers its competitors in home search Realtor.com, Redfin.com, Homes.com — the technology companies that invest in building home shopping experiences," Wacksman said.

Was Compass a target? Dintzer suggested Zillow sought to "specifically target Compass agents," pointing to a strategy document Zillow prepared prior to NAR's decision on its Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP). One tactic listed was to "allow other brokerages to better compete for Compass agents or those of other bad actors." 

Wacksman downplayed the statement, claiming, "Compass agents or other bad actors [is] a shorthand for folks who were not going to support listing transparency." 

'Stop the PLNs': Wacksman said one goal of the company's LAS was "to alleviate the pressure that brokerages were going to feel to create and announce PLNs [private listing networks]," adding, "If you have one actor holding their own inventory back, it's going to create pressure on other actors to do the same."

Dintzer then asked Wacksman if he agreed with another statement in the strategy document: "That was our goal, to stop the PLNs." Wacksman said he did not disagree.

The conspiracy claim

Dintzer highlighted a number of interactions between Wacksman and Kelman — and appeared to suggest the leaders intentionally avoided leaving a paper trail, frequently mentioning that the CEOs did not specify what they wanted to talk about in texts requesting a call; that Wacksman did not take notes during those calls; and that no one else was on the calls. 

Too cozy with Kelman? Wacksman acknowledged that he spoke or texted with Redfin's CEO on several occasions between March and May about Clear Cooperation, Compass and LAS. The leaders were "culturally aligned" on their stance regarding the CCP, Wacksman said. 

Kelman was pre-briefed about LAS on Apr. 9 — the day before Zillow announced the new standards — but not any earlier, Wacksman added, saying Kelman was "very pleased" with Zillow's decision and "would likely support" LAS but needed to confer with his leadership team. Redfin ultimately released its own version of listing standards on April 14. 

When questioned later by Zillow attorney Eric Tuttle, Wacksman elaborated on his communications, noting that he is the primary contact for Redfin, Realtor.com and Anywhere — and he pre-briefed all of them on Apr. 9. News outlets were also briefed that day, he added.

A Compass boycott? During opening statements, Compass' lawyers argued that Zillow and Redfin "agreed to boycott listings from Compass" in violation of antitrust law. Tuttle asked Wacksman if that was true, and if Zillow was "boycotting Compass right now." 

"No, we are not," Wacksman said. "In fact, we have the vast majority of their listings."

What Zillow is trying to achieve

Tuttle also asked how Zillow perceives others in the industry and why it announced LAS before having the standards nailed down.

On competition: Expanding on his earlier statement that Zillow doesn't view Compass or other brokerages as competitors, Wacksman said they are actually "our partners in many ways" — they provide the listings, and "they have agents and teams that buy advertising from us. So they are building their businesses by wanting to work with our customers."

Even Compass? "Compass is a partner. … Tens of thousands of Compass agents use our software to manage their listings and their showings and their business."

The motivation behind LAS: Wacksman said Zillow decided to adopt its listing standards after failing to convince NAR and MLSs "to make sure that cooperation and transparency were maintained." In late 2024, the company "started to turn our focus towards what we might have to do to ensure we get fresh supply and that the marketplace remains transparent."

The timing of the announcement: Zillow wanted to know NAR's decision on Clear Cooperation before rolling out LAS, Wacksman said. "We wanted to make sure that our standards could sit alongside how they were asking all agents to cooperate with each other."

He also acknowledged that Zillow did not immediately release an FAQ or fully explain how it would implement its new listing standards, but decided to move ahead with the announcement because after NAR's CCP updates, "there were a lot of questions in the industry, and we had been working on the standards and we were pretty far along," Wacksman said.

"We wanted to make sure it was clear to folks that we were going to be doing this, and start the education campaign, 'cause again, the whole goal of the standards is to educate, make people aware of that tradeoff, because we expect most people will choose broad public marketing."