In the last few years, there's been a revolution, from holding listings close to your chest, to a free for all. Now the question is, who gets the traffic? Zillow, Trulia and others like them used to be anathema. When early adopters of listings distribution sent them listings, some would howl in protest.

Nowadays, even the largest franchisors in America are generally working with Trulia, Zillow and others.

The real issue becomes: who gets the traffic from these freely distributed listings? First, some portals exist for themselves. They take listings and keep whatever traffic they attract.

But other portals take listings and send traffic back to the source. That source can be the franchisor, the broker, or even the agent.

If a franchisor sends out the listings, the traffic is sent back to the franchisor's national (or regional) website.

If the broker sends out the listings (directly or via others, such as Homes.com or ListHub), the traffic flows back to their local website.

If the agent sends out their listings (typically via their website provider), the traffic flows to their personal website.

Since traffic is everything online, and online is where buyers and sellers are, understanding this dynamic is crucial when mapping out your listings distribution strategy. "Who gets the traffic?" should be your first question. And maximizing your own traffic should be your goal.