Zillow Removes Matterport 3D Tours From Its Listings

Zillow announced today that it has removed Matterport 3D tours from all its listings on both Zillow and StreetEasy.

The move was prompted by CoStar electing not to renew its Matterport API agreement with Zillow and changing its terms of service to restrict the use of Matterport 3D virtual tours, according to a Zillow spokesperson.

A spokesperson for CoStar disputed Zillow’s claims, arguing that its competitor is “intentionally misrepresenting CoStar Group’s and Matterport’s licensing terms.”

The spokesperson claimed that its media licensing terms have not changed, and that Matterport customers can freely share their digitally rendered tours anywhere, including Zillow. Media created by CoStar for use on its platforms is proprietary, they added.

“If Zillow is removing Matterport Spaces from its website, that is a decision Zillow made unilaterally to the detriment of their customers,” the spokesperson said. “Zillow is now playing games to stir up customer confusion and divert attention away from its many lawsuits.”

They added that Zillow has not used CoStar’s API in years, calling the justification a “red herring.”

In February, CoStar closed its $1.6 billion deal for Matterport, which enables virtual homes tours for listings and includes nearly every top brokerage in the country on its client list.

In an email sent this morning, StreetEasy informed its partners that Matterport 3D tours were removed adding that listings would otherwise be unaffected.

The move is the latest battle in the continuing portal wars. “CoStar’s ongoing efforts to wall off data and restrict how real estate professionals use the content they pay for is harmful to everyone in the industry,” a Zillow spokesperson said in a statement.

CoStar’s terms and conditions prohibit the use or display of its content, including Matterport virtual tours, from “any third party platforms, websites, or listing services that compete with CoStar Group’s products and services,” according to its website.

Zillow declined to provide specifics on the number of listings affected, but noted that the percentage is small.

Founded in 2011, Matterport rose to prominence for its advanced software that allowed for the creation of 3D virtual tours. In 2021, it went public via a special purpose acquisition company before CoStar took it private earlier this year. Other companies, including Zillow, have entered the space in recent years as virtual reality technology has become more commonplace.

The removal of Matterport tours comes just months after CoStar sued Zillow for alleged intellectual property theft, claiming that Zillow used more than 46,000 CoStar Group images on its listing website. Zillow previously confirmed that it had begun taking down photos involved in the lawsuit from its website.

CoStar CEO Andy Florance criticized Zillow earlier this month, claiming it had continued to upload CoStar-owned images to its listings and still had thousands of photos identified in the lawsuit that remained on its website.

Zillow’s attorney in that case described the lawsuit as “CoStar’s latest attempt to weaponize copyright litigation for competitive pressure” in a letter to the judge. “This lawsuit is nothing more than a calculated attempt to misuse copyright law to sideline Zillow and lock in CoStar’s control,” the company’s counsel added.

The story has been updated with comment from CoStar.