As the real estate industry debates listing data control, syndication and monetization, pointing fingers at some of the industry\u2019s largest companies, one listing website is continuing to quietly increase its reach and spread the message that brokers can post listings on a consumer-facing website while still maintaining control over the data.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Launched in 2014 as an industry-led effort by MLSs and brokerages to create a national home search platform, the Broker Public Portal<\/strong> <\/a>is by no means new to the industry. However, in recent months the BPP and its consumer-facing portal Cribio<\/strong><\/a>, relaunched in September of 2025, have been gaining momentum, with five more brokers and MLSs <\/a>already signing onto the platform this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The goal of the BPP is to create a platform that competes with advertising and lead generation-powered listing portals like Zillow<\/strong> or Realtor.com<\/strong>, but keeps control over listing data<\/a> and the leads listings generated in the hands of brokers and agents. This, however, means that brokers and MLSs have to pay to have their listings on Cribio.<\/p>\n \u201cThe portals are free because they have other monetization strategies, such as advertising, selling leads and success fees and the unfortunate part is, I don\u2019t think this is the model most people thought they were initially buying into because originally it was the listing agent that was promoted with the listings. But because of the way this works, when you ask an MLS or a broker to pay for a portal they look at you strangely,\u201d Dan Troup, the CEO of BPP, said. \u201cBut in this instance we are asking them to pay for a portal, but they don\u2019t have to compromise anything on the back side \u2014 no advertising, no leads, no selling to agents or mortgage conversions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the initial hesitancy of some brokers, Troup said BPP currently supports nearly 400,000 agents on the platform, with plans to launch in at least three new markets within the next quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to grow from an ownership standpoint, with more brokers and MLSs becoming unit holders, but the only way we can continue on and make the company sustainable is to create a product <\/a>in which our unit holders want to purchase,\u201d Troup said.\u00a0<\/p>\n This, Troup said, was the impetus behind the launch of Cribio last fall and with brokers beginning to push for greater control over how their listing data is used by third parties, more and more are becoming interested in the Cribio platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are really leaning into the MLS because it is where the data lives and it is the place the agent works out of, but you can\u2019t tap into it as a consumer \u2014 you need some type of shared infrastructure,\u201d Troup said. \u201cBut if you go to One Key MLS<\/strong><\/a>, for example, you can search the same markets that are on Cribio, so we are really breaking down the borders of consumer search for MLSs that work with us. We call it \u2018brokers without borders\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While Troup is hoping to see the continued growth of BPP and Cribio as they welcome more brokerages and MLS to their ownership base, he doesn\u2019t believe a national MLS<\/a> is where the industry should go.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are some people with how their business models work, who would love a single source of listing information, but what I don\u2019t want us to lose is all of the small nuances in the local data sets,\u201d Troup said.\u00a0<\/p>\n As an example, Troup highlighted the lakefront cottage properties that dot the northern parts of his home state of Michigan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the MLS there I can search for homes based on not only the type of frontage the lake home has \u2014 shared or private\u2014 but also by how much frontage, if that frontage is on a lake or a river, if it is an all-sports lake or what type of boat I can have on the lake,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we get to a national MLS or even far fewer MLSs without losing all of that information that I think is great for consumers to have?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nCompete with portals but maintain control over listing data<\/h2>\n
Launching in three markets next quarter<\/h2>\n
Is a national MLS the way to go?<\/h2>\n
Breaking down boundaries<\/h2>\n