$100 million to keep a competitor sidelined for nine years — that's the original allegation the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) leveled against Zillow. The antitrust case has now ended in a settlement dated August 24, 2026, with Zillow agreeing to unwind the deal that had pushed Redfin out of the internet listing service (ILS) apartment advertising market, clearing the way for its rival to return to the table.
According to an FTC press release, the case traces back to September 2025, when the agency accused Zillow of offering $100 million to get Redfin to exit its ILS apartment advertising business for a full nine years. Around the same time, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington filed similar joint lawsuits against Zillow, which were consolidated with the FTC's case that November.
The most direct condition of the settlement is that Redfin must relaunch its ILS apartment listing business — and the FTC is requiring the comeback to include "significantly more listings" to ensure Redfin is a genuine competitive force, not just a business in name only. In its statement, the FTC said restoring competition in the ILS market "is expected to lower costs, spur innovation, and benefit renters and property managers."
The settlement also touches on personnel and consumer protections. Zillow is required to share employee information with Redfin to support its recruiting efforts. On the consumer side, Zillow must allow existing customers to renegotiate their contract terms free of charge and without penalty.
More than a dollar figure in fines, the settlement's real weight lies in "removing the barrier" — unwinding, point by point, the market exit deal that had been bought outright and restoring it to a workable business relationship. The available material doesn't specify a settlement amount, an implementation timeline, or any subsequent public statements from either party, so those details remain to be clarified by the parties involved.
