RE Infolink, one of the largest MLSs in the country, is going to pick up its listings and go home, but Yahoo! Real Estate is hardly running after the MLS to invite it back to play.

Yahoo! has a new relationship with zipRealty that it announced last week in which zipRealty, like its predecessor eRealty, would become the listings provider for key cities across the U.S. market for the portal. In compliance with NAR's rulings about VOWs, consumers must click on user agreements before they can view the listings.

Yahoo! has declined in the past to explain to Agent News the nature of its agreements with VOW (virtual office Website) brokerages, and no one was made available for comment for this story.

"Yahoo! does not discuss or disclose the terms and conditions of its agreements with partners, which are confidential," wrote a spokesperson in response to inquiries.

"Yahoo can't resell our data," says Jim Meader, technology chairman for RE Infolink. "They can display it, but they can't resell it.

"RE INfolink had an agreement with Yahoo," explains Meader. "They requested that they be provided data like Realtor.com, and the agreement has been in effect for a couple of years. They started utilizing unauthorized data. If they use our data in a manner that is not authorized, we can pull the data, so we pulled the data."

According to the NAR, VOW sites are not illegal nor is the relationship between zipRealty and Yahoo! illegal. However, questions are being raised as to whether an MLS member should be allowed to use its VOW in an advertising agreement with a portal.

At the very least, Mike Johnson, CEO of RE Infolink, and its board, plan to debate the issue.

"Our business model is to provide maximum exposure for our members," says Johnson. "Portaling everything to zipRealty defeats that purpose. We try to provide a level playing field."

zipRealty is a subscriber to RE Infolink. Explains Johnson, members are allowed to post the MLS listings on their VOW sites, but they are not allowed to redistribute the listings. And that's where the debate could get lively. Is the relationship an advertising relationship? Should zipRealty be required to post competing brokers contact information on their listings? Can VOW rules concerning the display of listings be changed, and if so, can they be made retroactive?

Like other MLSs, RE Infolink saw the drama between eRealty and the Austin Board of Realty several years ago, but the sealed outcome was not clear to observers, except through the public acceptance of the concept by the NAR. The NAR has appointed a committee to look into IDX and VOW issues and is asking for feedback from members.

Meanwhile, RE Infolink was caught short when it came to VOW data display rules, with little anticipation in how clever members could take advantage or how other members would react.

"We have had IDX in place since last October, and have adopted the rules," says Johnson. "I don't think anyone who is doing a VOW is breaking rules, but I think it wasn't something we were prepared to deal with. We were so focuxed on IDX and now we are going to have to deal with VOWs.

"IDX rules are very explicit, but there aren't any rules pertaining to VOWs," says Johnson. "It is my understanding that consumers log in and agree to a kind of a buyer's agreement that they are using the Internet that way and that allows them (zipRealty) to publicize the listings without the listing agent showing.

Johnson says he wants to make clear that the MLS has no intention of targeting zipRealty of any brokerage that uses VOW sites. "But we are looking at all VOW sites in general to see wha the best way to handle this is," he says. "We need to take a good hard look at them (Yahoo!) not to drive traffic to just one broker."

Published: June 25, 2002

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.