By admin1
Google’s experiment with displaying home listings directly in search results is resurfacing, months after an earlier test sent a brief shock through the residential brokerage world.
But HouseCanary, Google’s data and brokerage partner in the effort, says the experience remains a limited pilot rather than a full public rollout.
Chris Rediger, a spokesperson for HouseCanary, told Inman Monday that the company currently has three MLSs providing listings to the pilot: CRMLS, San Diego MLS and My State MLS. CRMLS serves more than 93,000 real estate professionals from 39 associations, boards and MLS organizations, while San Diego MLS serves the San Diego area, and My State MLS bills itself as a nationwide MLS that lets members list and search properties anywhere in the U.S. HouseCanary is also in conversations with additional MLSs, Rediger said.
“This is still a limited Google pilot/test program, not a full public rollout,” Rediger told Inman, adding that the company would communicate more broadly to the industry “if things progress beyond the pilot phase.”
The renewed attention came after real estate analyst Mike DelPrete shared in a blog post on Monday that Google’s real estate listings “are back,” with screenshots showing a sponsored Google search experience for homes for sale in Miami, Los Angeles and Cleveland.
The experience is not visible to everyone. One member of Inman’s editorial staff was able to reproduce the results DelPrete posted, underscoring HouseCanary’s description of the test as limited and unevenly distributed.
EXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja also confirmed to Inman that he has been able to access the Google listings experience and provided Inman with a screenshot showing eXp listings appearing in mobile Google search results for “homes for sale in Miami.”
Pareja said eXp’s involvement traces back to March, when eXp announced its partnership with ComeHome, HouseCanary’s consumer search portal. He said that eXp is sending all of its active MLS listings, along with listings from NextHome — which eXp acquired on May 7 — into the Google pilot.
“In most of the markets that are in the beta, it’s only eXp listings,” Pareja said, while adding that he does not view that as the ideal consumer experience. “That’s not the goal.”
Pareja framed the move as another way to give listings broad, nonexclusive exposure, not as an attempt to pull listings away from MLSs or portals. He said his preference is for coming-soon and active listings to be entered into the MLS and then distributed broadly through IDX and other nonexclusive channels.
“I believe in non-exclusivity,” Pareja said. “I’m not trying to cut anybody out. I believe in transparency.”
Pareja said his preference is for eXp and NextHome listings to appear on every portal at the same time, with Google serving as another high-visibility channel rather than an exclusive destination.
“That is maximum exposure. That is maximum visibility,” Pareja said.
HouseCanary courts agents and MLSs
HouseCanary has also launched a public page inviting agents and MLSs to participate in the pilot, describing the effort as a way to bring MLS listings directly into Google Search. The page says that for participating MLSs, selling agents receive attribution and click-to-contact functionality at no cost. It also says active listings can appear in Google Search results with “no advertising spend required.”
An example of the HouseCanary Google integration as seen by an Inman staff reporter.
The pilot page identifies eight live markets, with MLS participation varying by geography. In California, CRMLS and My State MLS are listed as participating in the Greater Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles, while Greater San Diego also includes San Diego MLS. In the remaining pilot markets — Greater New York, Austin, Chicago, Miami and Cleveland — My State MLS is listed as the participating MLS.
The move is notable because HouseCanary is not just a data and analytics firm, but also a licensed brokerage in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. That brokerage status has been central to the debate over the Google pilot. When the experiment first surfaced late last year, critics questioned whether HouseCanary’s use of IDX listing data to power Google search placements crossed from display into advertising, potentially implicating broker consent and MLS advertising rules.
HouseCanary, meanwhile, has described the pilot as dependent on MLS participation. Its pilot page tells agents that their MLS must participate for their listings to appear on Google and invites agents to submit contact information so HouseCanary can advocate to their MLS on their behalf. It also pitches My State MLS as a way for agents to make approved active listings eligible for Google Search placement more quickly because the nationwide MLS already participates in the pilot.
Rediger similarly told Inman that users can access the listings directly through Google search results, but only on mobile devices or browsers rendering a mobile experience. He said the pilot is market-dependent, does not appear on every search and remains subject to limits and controls around impressions and distribution.
The HouseCanary page also says Google does not retain listing data for use in AI or LLM products or other Google services beyond the agreed placement.
Multiple paths for consumers
The lead-routing structure also appears more nuanced than a simple portal-style handoff.
Rediger said listing agents have a direct click-to-contact option within the Google experience. But he also said agents advertising through Google Local Services Ads may appear within the interface and that those agents pay Google for Local Services Ads.
“Users should try the experience directly because there are multiple interaction paths,” Rediger said.
That distinction could matter to MLSs and portals because much of the early concern around the pilot centered on whether Google and HouseCanary were simply displaying listing information, turning IDX listings into paid advertising inventory, or moving closer to the lead-generation model dominated by Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and other portals.
HouseCanary declined to comment on specific brokerage participation and said it would wait until the pilot is further along before discussing how the business model may ultimately evolve. The company also deferred questions about CRMLS and San Diego MLS participation to the MLSs themselves. CRMLS declined to comment on its participation in the pilot.
The portal implications remain unresolved
The Google pilot first drew industry attention late last year, after HouseCanary’s ComeHome listings began appearing at the top of some mobile Google search results in select markets. At the time, HouseCanary described the effort as a “controlled experiment with Google” and said it had notified MLSs involved in the test.
The pilot also raised immediate questions about whether Google could eventually become a more direct competitor to Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and other search portals — particularly if the company were to pair listing inventory with paid agent placement, tour requests or other lead-generation features. Others in the industry have framed the deeper question as whether home discovery itself could shift closer to search behavior and buyer intent, rather than traditional portal browsing.
But the concern that Google could keep more of the consumer experience inside search results is not unique to real estate. Across media and other search-dependent industries, Google has faced growing scrutiny for surfacing more information directly in search, raising fears that users may stay in Google before ever clicking through to the websites that depend on that traffic. For portals, the question is whether home search could follow a similar path, with more discovery happening on Google before a user ever reaches Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com or a brokerage site.
Analysts at the time, like WAV Group Managing Partner Victor Lund, were divided on the threat to Zillow and other portals. Some saw little immediate financial risk, while others viewed the test as a potential long-term challenge if Google were to scale the experience nationally and move further into real estate search.
