The following are excerpts from Paul Hagey's Jul 31, 2013 article titled "Zillow’s point man with MLSs, brokers departs: Bob Bemis frustrated by 'lack of inroads' in MLS
community
by Paul Hagey
Jul 31, 2013
Bob Bemis undefined the former MLS executive hired last year by Zillow … has left his
position after 18 months, citing frustration in his efforts to obtain direct
listing feeds from MLSs on Zillow’s behalf.
Zillow, and other third-party real estate search sites
like Trulia, have made a big push to get data feeds directly from brokers and
MLSs because, without a direct feed, the portals face accuracy and timeliness
issues with the listing data they get from a variety of sources.
A recent study by the brokerage and referral site ZipRealty,
for example, showed that 16 and 17 percent of the homes listed as for sale on
Zillow and Trulia, respectively, in the markets the study looked at were not
listed as for sale in the MLS.
“Most MLSs didn’t see a great advantage in setting up
direct data feeds,” Bemis said. “I just don’t think we’re there yet.” From his
perspective, Bemis said, a shift in attitudes about providing direct feeds to
Zillow and other third-party sites could be years out.
Last June, Bemis sent emails to 50 of the 200 MLSs that send
Zillow data … asking them to consider
giving Zillow direct data feeds so they could improve the accuracy and
timeliness of their listings on the portal.
“While this channel is convenient, it is not always
the speediest, and many of the complaints we receive about listing freshness
can be traced to the speed with which new or updated listing information
reaches Zillow,” Bemis said in a June 29, 2012, email. “Because of the multiple
hands through which the data passes, it can sometimes be days before a revised
listing reaches us for posting.”
-Greg
Greg Wilson
The REI Mentor
http://www.reimentor.com
