Google’s residential listing advertising program is starting to take shape for agents and brokers, with Bright MLS preparing to make active broker listings visible in mobile Google search results this week.
Bright, the nation’s largest MLS by subscribers with 101,000 members, announced this month that it has partnered with HouseCanary to display active listings in Google Search through HouseCanary’s ComeHome platform. Bright said the integration will be available on June 30th, with listings expected to appear shortly thereafter.
This announcement provides one of the clearest looks yet at how the home listing experience powered by Google’s HouseCanary will actually work. For agents and brokers, the program appears to have two distinct components. One is free listing exposure through participating MLS and broker feeds, and the other is paid lead opportunities through Google Local Services Ads.
Listing exposure depends on MLS and brokerage participation
Bright told subscribers that active listings are eligible to appear in the Google Search property carousel on mobile, but the MLS said active listings may appear on top of the traditional portal. Bright said the display comes at no additional cost to brokers and prominently displays the listing agent’s name, broker and contact button.
But Bright also cautioned that labeling is not guaranteed. Listings are displayed based on Google’s algorithms and consumer search parameters. In other words, agents should not assume that all listings will be displayed for all relevant searches.
This integration is not a direct feed from Bright to Google. Bright said the connection is being made through HouseCanary’s consumer-facing platform ComeHome, which provides listing data for Google’s home listing ad experience.
Participation appears to rely primarily on decisions at the MLS and brokerage level, rather than individual agents simply uploading listings to Google. Bright told Inman that brokerages can opt out of the program through the MLS’s existing syndication dashboard, where brokerages manage numerous distribution options. At the agent level, Bright said, agents can exclude individual listings from all distribution options, including Google, by selecting “No Internet.”
Bright also said that neither HouseCanary nor Google received any rights to the listing data or photos beyond displaying them in their advertising programs.
Individual agents can advertise through Google Local Services Ads, but getting a listing on Google’s Home Listings view appears to depend on whether the agent’s MLS or brokerage participates in the listing feed.
HouseCanary’s own FAQ makes a similar distinction. HouseCanary says program listings are provided only by participating MLSs. Brokers who wish to make their listings available in the Google program must join a participating MLS or coordinate with an existing MLS to establish a feed. Agents, on the other hand, must obtain a license from a participating MLS broker.
According to HouseCanary, eligible properties include active properties and, in some cases, pre-market properties, but typically do not include commercial, rental or land properties. Depending on each MLS’s rules, brokers can opt in or out of the feed.
HouseCanary also said that all eligible listings in participating MLSs are viewable in active markets, but that Google displays listings based on their relevance to consumers’ queries.
Agent leads are generated through Google Local Services Ads
Bright confirmed that agents should understand the program as two separate components. Free listing visibility through participating MLS and brokerage feeds, and paid lead opportunities through Google Local Services Ads.
“It’s free for listing agents to have their listings appear in Google searches,” Bright said. “Agents who choose to advertise alongside their listing content (via Google Local Services Ads) pay only for leads.”
Google’s local services help page provides detailed information on how that part of the program works. According to Google, home listing ads display for-sale listings directly on Google Search, and include listing agents, prices, images, neighborhood data and the advertised buyer’s agent. Potential buyers can use the ad to call or message a local buyer agent.
As with other local services ads, Google said agents will only pay for leads, not clicks or impressions. To use Home Listing Ads with Local Services, agents must have a verified Google Business Profile, a Local Services Ads campaign linked to that profile, and opt-in to the Buyer’s Agent or Seller’s Agent job type.
Google says the format is available on mobile in the U.S. market and requires agents to have a valid Local Services Ads account and pass the company’s standard verification process.
According to Google, the listing itself is powered by ComeHome, powered by HouseCanary. Google says Local Services Ads will automatically display appropriate ad formats for searches like “houses near me” or “real estate agents near me.” Google says prices change dynamically by market and the residential listing ad format will not be served on Google Maps.
As more MLSs and brokerages consider participating in programs, the distinction between listing visibility and paid lead generation is likely to become important. If you’re an agent, your ability to get listings on Google’s Home Listing Experience may depend on whether you have an MLS or broker participating. In contrast, to emerge yourself as a promoted agent, use Google’s local services advertising system.
Further feeds are expected
HouseCanary said the broader program continues to expand. In a previous conversation with Inman, the company said it is working with additional MLSs to coordinate more feeds so more brokers and agents can have listings in the program.
The company also said it expects more partners to be announced in the coming weeks. Bright’s integration appears to be one of the first examples of its widespread expansion becoming visible to agents and brokers.
The program is already attracting attention from major portals and brokerages because it sits at the intersection of listing distribution, agent advertising, and lead generation. Zillow previously told Inman that it doesn’t see Google’s expansion into residential listings as an immediate threat to its business, and that Google is moving toward a pay-per-lead model that Zillow says it has been doing away with.
On the brokerage side, eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja also previously positioned the program not as a threat to the portal, but as another place to display properties. Pareja previously told Inman that eXp is feeding all active and upcoming listings from eXp Realty and NextHome into the program.
It may be easier for agents to understand immediately. Google home listing ads aren’t one switch that agents can flip. Listing exposure depends first on MLS and brokerage participation. Paid lead generation relies on Google Local Services Ads. And the value on both sides depends on whether consumers take advantage of the new experience to search for a home or contact an agent.
Update: This story has been updated with comment from Bright MLS.
Email AJ LaTrace
