Matterport Publicly Challenges Zillow Over Tour Ban21607
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 Owner,Managing Editor and Publisher of WGAN Forum and WGAN-TV Podcast Fairfield, California |
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| Matterport Publicly Challenges Zillow Over Tour Ban In a blog post dated May 27, 2026, Matterport (now under CoStar Group) is publicly pressing Zillow to reverse its ban on Matterport tours that has been in place since October 2025. The backstory: Since Zillow removed Matterport tours from its site last fall, CoStar says it has repeatedly told Zillow — both publicly and in direct letters — that Matterport customers are free to post their tours on Zillow, and that the relevant terms of service never changed. The new wrinkle: According to Matterport, Zillow has now asked for an "executed promise" from CoStar Group. In response, interim Matterport President Rob Hines published a signed statement framed as a contract, declaring that Matterport customers own the tours they create, can post them wherever they want, and that CoStar Group will not sue Zillow for displaying them. The post closes the loop by addressing it directly to Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman, essentially saying the ball is now in Zillow's court — "All Zillow needs to do is accept." Why it matters for us: This is an ongoing standoff between two major players that directly affects how (and whether) our 3D tour deliverables show up on the most-trafficked real estate portal in the U.S. Worth watching to see if Zillow responds. Source: Matterport Blog |
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JasonZ private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Not sure if it's even possible, but if we truly owned our scans we would be able to download and host our own projects like iGuide. | ||
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 WGAN FanCLUB Member Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| @TomSparks With this argument should homes.com (CoStar company) have to prominently display 3rd party tours on listings on their site? an example of a property with a Zillow tour Realtor.com & Zillow obviously shows the tour where homes.com does not not even a link buried in the fold. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8256-N-Woodworth-St-Post-Falls-ID-83854/204545299_zpid/ https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8256-N-Woodworth-St_Post-Falls_ID_83854_M14223-23619 https://www.homes.com/property/8256-n-woodworth-st-post-falls-id/m9bg9l3vmfzzd/ |
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WGAN Fan CLUB Member Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| @JasonZ Or at lease bring back the Showcase app to be able to present tours while "offline" ~ internet nor cell service is always guaranteed |
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Owner, Managing Editor and Publisher of WGAN Forum and WGAN-TV Podcast Fairfield, California |
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| @JasonZ that would be nice. | ||
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Owner, Managing Editor and Publisher of WGAN Forum and WGAN-TV Podcast Fairfield, California |
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| @lilnitsch good point! | ||
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vrephoto private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Home sellers and listing brokers would be better served if brokers and mls organizations stopped allowing 3rd party use of their listing data entirely. They list a house, give permission to zillow and all the other syndication sites to use the data and they use it to sell leads back to the brokers that gave them the data in the first place. Meanwhile, they put all kinds of distraction ads on the listing sites that steer would-be-buyers to other listings and new home ads which is not what I'd want if I were selling my home. Take back control of the data and put it into broker controlled search sites and these behemoth lead sellers that are fighting each other at the expense of their customers will go away and stop sucking so much revenue out of the home buying and selling process. | ||
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WGAN Fan CLUB Member Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| @vrephoto I think there’s some truth to that concern, particularly when it comes to how listing data has evolved from a cooperative marketing tool into a significant lead-generation business for third-party portals. That said, consumer behavior is a big factor. Buyers overwhelmingly start their search on sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin because they offer convenience, broad inventory, mobile apps, neighborhood data, and a familiar user experience. Even if brokers and MLSs pulled syndication tomorrow, consumers would likely continue gravitating toward whichever platforms offered the most comprehensive and user-friendly search experience. The challenge is balancing exposure with control. Sellers generally benefit from maximum visibility, but brokers understandably question whether it makes sense to provide listing data that is then monetized through advertising, lead sales, and competing agent placements. It’s also worth noting that portals have invested heavily in technology, mapping, search functionality, market data, photos, video, 3D tours, and consumer education tools that many broker-controlled websites have historically struggled to match at scale. Ultimately, the conversation may be less about eliminating syndication and more about finding a model that better aligns the interests of consumers, brokers, MLSs, and the platforms that distribute listing information. The industry has been debating that balance for years, and there are valid arguments on all sides. |
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WGAN Fan CLUB Member Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| Another factor that often gets overlooked is the complexity of MLS data itself. There are hundreds of MLSs across North America, and many have different field definitions, business rules, and reporting standards. Something as simple as bedroom count, bathroom count, finished square footage, acreage, waterfront classifications, or property status can be defined and reported differently from one MLS to another. Syndication platforms spend enormous amounts of time and resources mapping, standardizing, and validating those fields so consumers can search properties across multiple markets in a relatively consistent way. It’s not a perfect process, but it is a significant technical undertaking. I was in no fewer than 7 MLS's not too long ago (primarily Flex & Paragon systems) and each MLS had some variation in the fields |
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WGAN Fan CLUB Member Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| @TomSparks Interesting question for the group: In Matterport’s recent public response to Zillow, the company repeatedly emphasized that Matterport customers “remain free to publish their 3D tours anywhere” and that customers who purchased Matterport media “may post them anywhere.” From a legal and business standpoint, did Matterport potentially create any challenges for itself by publicly taking such a strong position on customer ownership and usage rights? For example, if a future policy, licensing agreement, API restriction, hosting requirement, or platform integration were perceived as limiting where or how a tour could be displayed, could customers point back to these statements as evidence of the rights they were promised? Or is this simply Matterport clarifying a distinction between ownership/use rights and the ability of third-party platforms (such as Zillow) to decide what content they choose to display? That also raises another interesting question. If Zillow is being criticized for not displaying certain third-party tour types, should the same standard apply across the industry? Homes.com is owned by CoStar, and CoStar also owns Matterport. Should Homes.com be expected to display all third-party virtual tours and 3D experiences on listings as well, regardless of provider? If not, where should the line be drawn between platform control, user choice, and competitive business interests? Curious to hear thoughts from brokers, photographers, MLS executives, attorneys, and proptech folks. Does publicly stating that users “own” their tours strengthen customer trust, or could it create future legal, contractual, or competitive complications? And should all major portals be held to the same standard when it comes to displaying third-party virtual tour content? |
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