Executive Summary
Global Rank
#59
Monthly Visits
~304.37M
Avg Duration
5m 51s
Pages/Visit
14.42
Strategic Overview
Strong brand recognition and market share in U.S. property search, Large first-party dataset (listings, pricing history, user behavior) powering product features, High-engagement platform (avg ~14 pages/visit, long session durations) that supports advertising and agent monetization.
Ongoing high-profile litigation and regulatory scrutiny (antitrust, FTC, class actions), Reputation risk from frequent consumer complaints about listings, rentals and automated valuations, Platform exposure to listing fraud/scams created by third parties and upstream data providers.
Our Verdict
Investment Thesis
The Bull Case
3 PointsScale & Monetization
- • ~304M monthly visits and top-60 global rank provide reach for advertisers and agents.
- • High engagement (≈14 pages/visit, ~352 seconds/session) allows premium ad and lead monetization.
- • Diversified revenue: residential listings, rentals growth, mortgage product expansion.
Data-driven Competitive Advantage
- • Proprietary valuation models (Zestimate) and historical transaction data create barriers for new entrants.
- • Integrated agent/advertising ecosystem (Premier Agent and partnerships) ties customers to Zillow services.
Operational Resilience
- • Enterprise infra (AWS, Akamai/CloudFront, Route 53) and anti-bot/security vendors (PerimeterX, Humansecurity) reduce operational and fraud exposure.
- • Public company scale supports continued investment in product and legal defense.
The Bear Case
3 PointsLegal & Regulatory Overhang
- • Multiple antitrust, class action and FTC matters could force product changes, fines or limits on business models.
- • Protracted litigation increases legal spend and uncertainty for agent/partner relationships.
Reputation & Platform Trust
- • Frequent user complaints (fraudulent rental listings, billing, Zestimate errors) erode consumer trust and reduce conversion rates.
- • Scammers exploiting listings create direct consumer harm and amplify regulatory scrutiny.
Market Sensitivity
- • Ad / listing revenue is cyclical and linked to housing market activity; downturns compress monetization.
- • Competition from MLS-aligned portals, brokerages, and specialized rental services can reduce share.
Entity & Domain Integrity
Long‑owned domain (registered via GoDaddy), enterprise TLS issued via Amazon, DNS hosted on Amazon Route 53 / AWS nameservers; no active Google Safe Browsing threats detected.
| Registrar | GoDaddy Corporate Domains, LLC |
|---|---|
| Domain Age | 1095369418 (UNIX epoch) |
| Security Status |
Registry Locked
SSL: Amazon RSA 2048 M04
|
Reputation Analysis
0 Reviews
Customer Sentiment Analysis
Public reviews and consumer complaints are mixed: many successful transactions and positive agent matches exist, but repeated themes of listing fraud, rental workflow failures and customer support friction create reputational leakage.
Common Themes
Traffic Distribution
| Top Countries | Traffic Share | Trend |
|---|---|---|
|
United States
|
95.42% |
|
|
Canada
|
1.15% |
|
|
Philippines
|
0.42% |
|
|
United Kingdom
|
0.29% |
|
|
India
|
0.28% |
|
Competitive Landscape
| Competitor Type | Threat Analysis |
|---|---|
| National consumer portals | Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia — compete on listing freshness, MLS integrations and buyer/seller search UX; may capture high‑intent traffic. |
| Rental marketplaces | Apartments.com, Zumper, HotPads — stronger verified rental pipelines and landlord integrations that can drain rental-seeker traffic. |
| Brokerage/tech-enabled brokerages | Redfin, Compass — vertically integrated brokerages offering lower fees or differentiated agent services that reduce agent spend on Zillow's ad products. |
| Investor / commercial platforms | LoopNet, Roofstock — specialized tools for commercial or investor segments that compete for advertising and listing inventory. |
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- Market-leading brand and scale in U.S. residential search
- High user engagement metrics that support ad and lead monetization
- Large first-party data footprint (historical sales, user behavior, valuations)
Weaknesses
- Recurring customer complaints about rental workflows and support
- Public visibility of Zestimate inaccuracies that undermine trust
- Concentration of audience in the U.S. market
Opportunities
- Expand rentals and mortgage products (observed strong growth in rentals revenue)
- Monetize ancillary services (credit-building, premium analytics for agents/managers)
- Leverage data products for enterprise customers and partners
Threats
- Antitrust/regulatory outcomes that could force product or distribution changes
- Competitors with stronger MLS integrations or vertically integrated brokerages
- Persistent platform fraud that reduces consumer confidence
Risk Register
| Identified Risk | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Antitrust and regulatory litigation (multiple active cases including FTC, district court matters and appeals) | High | Maintain robust legal budget and compliance programs; pursue settlements where appropriate; adjust product features in high‑risk jurisdictions; strengthen policy and disclosure language. |
| Reputational damage from fraudulent or inaccurate listings (consumer harm / press attention) | Medium | Invest in faster takedown workflows, stronger landlord/agent verification, clearer consumer warnings, and dedicated fraud-monitoring teams (expand Humansecurity/PerimeterX configurations). |
| Platform product quality issues (Rental Manager, application flows, billing disputes) | Medium | Prioritize product reliability fixes, increase customer-support SLAs, publish transparency updates on refunds/cancellations and introduce clearer user journey diagnostics. |
| Market cyclicality impacting ad/listing revenue | Medium | Diversify revenue (rentals, mortgages, software/partners), maintain cost discipline, and develop countercyclical products (subscription services, tools for property managers). |
| Data privacy / security incident | High | Harden access controls, run third‑party security audits, maintain incident response playbooks, and ensure rapid regulatory reporting channels. |
| Operational outage due to CDN/edge failures or WAF misconfiguration | Medium | Multi-CDN strategy observed; maintain multi-region redundancy, run chaos-testing and monitor WAF rules for false positives to avoid inadvertent customer blocking. |
Appendix & Sources
Key Citations
-
SimilarTech site profile: zillow.com (technologies, monthly visits)
Platform technology and monthly visits estimate (raw data used from SimilarTech feed).
-
SimilarWeb analytics snapshot (Oct 2025)
Traffic, engagement metrics and top countries (Snapshot date: 2025-10-01).
-
BuiltWith / technology stack traces for zillow.com
Detailed third‑party techstack and hosting/CDN observations used to assess infrastructure and security vendors.
-
WHOIS, DNS and SSL details (GoDaddy registrar, Route 53 nameservers, TLS validity)
Registrar, nameservers, DNS TXT/SPF entries and SSL certificate validity window used to confirm domain operational posture.
-
Zillow trademark records (USPTO search for 'ZILLOW')
Multiple live trademarks for ZILLOW in various classes support brand ownership and IP position.
-
Trustpilot reviews / consumer feedback (sample)
Representative sample of recent Trustpilot reviews showing recurring consumer complaints about rental manager, listings and billing.
-
Aggregated reputation & complaint summary (web search / community sources)
Aggregated reporting on complaints, legal actions and public sentiment used to form reputation analysis.
-
Google Safe Browsing & crypto-scam checks
No active phishing/malware flags for zillow.com at query time.
-
Recent company news & PR (Zillow press releases / news feed)
Company press releases and research published in November 2025 captured to reflect current product and financial narrative.
Data Sources Used
Disclaimer
This report compiles third‑party telemetry and public records as of 2025-11-24. It is for informational due diligence only and not investment advice. Key legal, financial and operational facts should be validated directly with company filings, counsel, and primary data sources before any material decision.