According to a news release today, Black Knight Financial Services, developers of the Paragon MLS system and has partnered with Zillow for data management tools. Zillow purchased Bridge
Interactive last year, a company that is well known for RETS servers (Contact) and listing input modules (Compose) for MLSs.
As part of the alignment between the two companies, the release states that Zillow will be providing the technology to aggregate data from all of the hundreds of markets into Zillow’s data repository which Black Knight calls Property Information Central (PIC). This new system will act as the solution that will provide developers with access to MLS in RESO certified methods of RETS 1.8 and the new RESO WebAPI.
WAV Group asked a few questions – Black Knight responded as follows by email:
WAV Group: Is this an optional service for your MLS customers or does this replace your current MLS service?
BKFS Answer: Optional service.
WAV Group: What protects against Zillow using the data you provide them in other ways?
BKFS Answer: Any use of MLS data is still covered by the normal data usage terms and conditions you would find in any 3rdparty agreement.
WAV Group: Will Paragon be moving all listing input over to Compose?
BKFS Answer: No. The Paragon Add/Edit component is still available and is used heavily. To put this in perspective, we are seeing an uptick in usage of RETS Update, which is what Bridge’s Compose product uses. Other 3rd party applications also use RETS Update to add or edit listings. Another recent example is ZipForm. You can create a new listing in Paragon directly from a form in ZipForm with the click of a button. This is all about providing an ‘open’ MLS platform so that if a Broker, Agent or Board wants to use another platform to start their listings, we can support it with RETS Update NOW. I think this is important because ‘single point of entry’ is a real issue that we are trying to solve.
WAV Group: Will Contact contain data for all Paragon MLSs (how many do you have at this point?)
BKFS Answer: Contact is typically deployed on an MLS by MLS basis. We have 210 organizations as Paragon customers. I say organizations because with consolidations and mergers these organizations may contain multiple MLSs or Boards. Contact is also used for the PIC, which is a consolidated database of DD compliant listings from ~170 MLSs.
WAV Group: Is there any additional fee for vendors to connect?
BKFS Answer: I assume you mean connect to the Bridge Contact server at an MLS. In that case no, except for any license or other fees charged by the MLSs.
Full Press Release:
Bridge Interactive and Black Knight Financial Services Announce New Alliance to Provide Advanced Data Management Services to Paragon MLS Users
Paragon MLS users now have access to RESO-compliant listing input data management tools and services
SEATTLE, June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Bridge Interactive and Black Knight Financial Services (NYSE: BKFS) have announced a new alliance to integrate Bridge Interactive’s advanced suite of data management tools with Black Knight’s Paragon MLS system to provide enhanced listing and data management capabilities to Paragon users.
Paragon users looking for advanced functionality can now leverage Bridge Interactive’s set of management tools, including Contact, Cheque, as well as Compose, Bridge’s solution for listing input. Both Paragon and Compose fully support the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) RETS Update standard, and together they can provide a standards-based listing input alternative.
In addition, Black Knight has leveraged Bridge Interactive’s Contact product as part of its Property Information Central (PIC) solution. PIC is an aggregated, standardized database of listings from Black Knight MLS users and provides RESO Data Dictionary-certified data sets. It provides data distribution capabilities using RETS 1.8 and the new RESO WebAPI. Black Knight MLS users leveraging PIC have been certified by RESO for Data Dictionary and WebAPI compliance.
Bridge Interactive simplifies the listings management process from beginning to end, and provides clients with better security and control over their content. Bridge Interactive’s listing input tools help solve the inefficiencies and cost of repetitive data entry identified as a common business challenge throughout the residential real estate industry. Bridge Interactive also helps MLSs and their broker members control which listings and which fields are distributed to third parties. All Bridge Interactive tools harness the power of industry standards and are RESO compliant.
Paragon is Black Knight’s comprehensive MLS system that enables real estate professionals to collaborate with their clients anywhere and anytime. Paragon, a feature-rich, configurable MLS system, includes innovative and leading-edge capabilities and is used by more than 200 MLSs and associations across the U.S. and Canada. Paragon includes a feature-rich portal that allows agents to manage their business and collaborate with clients online in real time, and its mobile-first design provides users with an outstanding experience on the device of their choice.
“We are pleased to formalize our relationship with Black Knight, a company we have worked with over many years to improve industry standards and support RESO,” said Errol Samuelson, Zillow Group chief industry development officer. “Combining Bridge Interactive’s listings management suite with Paragon’s enterprise platform will help multiple listing services streamline their operations, drive efficiencies in brokerages, and provide brokers with even greater control over where and how their listing content is used.”
“Bridge Interactive has a long standing track record of supporting RESO standards and delivering advanced listings management tools,” said Chip McAvoy, vice president and real estate market leader for Black Knight. “We have worked closely with Bridge for many of our joint customers already, and this new agreement will accelerate those efforts. We have aggressively focused on providing solutions that help brokers and agents better manage their data, including our Paragon for Brokers solution. Leveraging Bridge Interactive’s products continues that strategy, focusing on key industry pain points, such as single point of entry and broker-centric listing distribution.”
For information about the Bridge Interactive suite of tools, visit www.bridgeinteractive.com.
Zillow Group
Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG) houses a portfolio of the largest real estate and home-related brands on the Web and mobile. The company’s brands focus on all stages of the home lifecycle: renting, buying, selling, financing and home improvement. Zillow Group is committed to empowering consumers with unparalleled data, inspiration and knowledge around homes, and connecting them with the right local professionals to help. The Zillow Group portfolio of consumer brands includes real estate and rental marketplaces Zillow®, Trulia®, StreetEasy®, HotPads® and Naked Apartments®. In addition, Zillow Group works with tens of thousands of real estate agents, lenders and rental professionals, helping maximize business opportunities and connect to millions of consumers. The company operates a number of business brands for real estate, rental and mortgage professionals, including Mortech®, dotloop®, Bridge Interactive™ and Retsly®. The company is headquartered in Seattle.
