RealTown's RealTalk

If NAR policy and its interpretation stands, more REALTORS will have to pull IDX listings off their sites. Will you be one of them, and how may your clients will feel about it if so? Read on to get clued in -- and to help shape a (desireable) outcome.

Paula Henry posted an article May 6 about how her local MLS required her to remove IDX listings off her site and her broker's since these were deemed in violation of NAR's and the local MLS' policies, and so far, NAR has agreed.

Yes, with the current interpretation of the policy, Google is considered a scraper site, surprising many, and causing some to learn more about IDX, indexing, and NAR policy-making process -- and to rally for workable policies and interpretations which protect MLS data and keep pace with technology and how REALTORS use data and technology.

With 150 comments in a day, Paula's article prompted NAR to fly in Paula and Jay Thompson, another REALTOR active in the discussion, for the MLS Issues Forum starting at 9 a.m. Thursday May 14 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Woodley Park, Washington, DC during NAR's Midyear meetings.

If you care about having IDX listings on Web sites and how a REALTOR may use data, please participate in this important discussion -- in person or online, via blog comments, e-mails to committee members, calls to colleagues -- and spread the word. Well-vetted, reasonable, consistent policies and interpretations will benefit everyone -- real estate professionals, technology and IDX providers, clients and consumers -- and time has come to act, and possibly update the 2005 policy. This may take a while, too.

Visit Paula's original article on AgentGenius.com. An outline of the issues currently appears at http://HostSuccessful.com/

I personally think if the current interpretation isn't changed alot of Realtors will be rethinking their membership in the National Association of Realtors. Odd how it's pointed out that Realtor.com doesn't comply with the new interpretation. I'm all for having a higher code of ethics and standards but it has to be balanced with a current review of the market conditions & technology. Alot has changed since 2005 when the rule was last reviewed. Why have they (the association leaders) not taken a top down look and re-evaluation of all rules & suggest possible changes to keep the rules contemporary?

Realtors have to remain competitive or their very source of membership could be in jeopardy. I'd rather see the National Association of Realtors spending more time on issues like this than offering health insurance or becoming a financial institution. Stick to the core business rather than wasting resources to explore new venues & businesses.

It's amazing how this topic has resulted in people thinking that IDX listings will be pulled. The issue is if an agent can take IDX listings, put them on their site, and allow search engines to crawl and index them. There have been numerous postings on RT about SEO and the need to have content on your site for search engines to crawl so your site shows up in search engine searches. The real question here is if an agent should be able to use other brokers IDX listings to get thousands of pages of conent on THEIR site for search engines to crawl and index.

I've been looking into indexing of IDX listings for a couple years now. There are brokers/agents that have already been doing this and the benefits for SEO are huge. One brokerage I've looked at used IDX content so their site shows up in search engines when an agents name is Googled. The same was true if a Brokerage name was Googled. Is there any agent or broker that wants their competitor's site to show up when someone Googles their name? This is stealing of someone elses brand name but is the result of indexing IDX listings.

I've already had discussions with my Association Executive about indexing and there are no rules that prevent me from doing this but I haven't since I believe it is UNETHICAL to use other brokers IDX lisitings as content for my site for SEO purposes.

People argue that is should be "all about the consumer" and any exposure for listings is good exposure. If that's the case, why didn't agents advertise other broker listings as their own in print ads over the past 30 years?

NAR should adress a couple other current rules/restrictions before they address indexing as a stand alone issue:

- The Listing Agent/Brokerage name AND contact info should be displayed at the top of an IDX listing in font size equivalent to the largest used on the page. It should be clear to the consumer who the Listing Agent is and who the Buyers Agent is. Today, while there are IDX policies about this, the lisitng Brokerage is usually buried somewhere in the noise of the IDX listing without contact info.

- Listing Agents should be able to brand their photos. Put their name, phone number, and/or logo on them.

IMO, indexing of IDX listing data will allow a few agents/brokers in an area to dominate the search engine results by implementing one or more custom IDX listing sites leveraging thousands of pages of IDX content. They will be the winners and the Listing Agents that leave marketing of their listing to someone else will be the losers.

Keith Byrd

www.SloCountyHomes.com