Zillow and Redfin settle FTC antitrust case

Zillow and Redfin have agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and five states, concluding a legal dispute over a 2025 partnership. The FTC alleged that this arrangement, announced last year, stifled competition in the rental-listing market. The deal involved Redfin agreeing to feature Zillow’s rental listings on its platforms, instead of competing directly with Zillow for rental advertisers.

This partnership could have kept Redfin out of the rental advertising business for up to nine years. The FTC and attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington argued that Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to prevent Redfin from competing, potentially allowing Zillow to charge higher prices and offer less favorable terms to property managers.

This could have also diminished the quality of rental listings for consumers. Under the proposed settlement, Redfin must return to the rental advertising business and will no longer be restricted from competing independently for property-management customers. While the companies will still display Zillow’s rental listings, they will regain the ability to attract their own customers, sell advertising, and pursue new rental clients without sharing sensitive business information with Zillow.

This settlement follows closely after the DOJ’s settlement with Ticketmaster, another antitrust case involving allegations of a dominant company suppressing competition.