As Google pushes deeper into real estate, HouseCanary has made itself the pipeline funneling MLS listings to the top of the world’s largest search engine.
During the latest RISMedia Industry Briefing, RISMedia Founder and CEO John Featherston sat down with HouseCanary CEO Chris Rediger to break down the company’s partnership with Google and what it means for agents, team leaders, brokerages and the consumers they serve.
Rediger used much of the conversation to correct what he characterized as media misinterpretation of the arrangement, which he said has been years in the making.
“We’ve been working with Google for over three years,” he said, noting that early rollouts were “interpreted a little bit incorrectly.”
He clarified that listings reach Google only through MLSs, with permission. “We are getting the data from MLSs, and we are striving to be as compliant as possible in doing so.”
HouseCanary—a 50-state licensed brokerage with agreements with roughly 300 MLSs—feeds participating listings into Google’s Local Services Ads, which surface at the top of mobile search.
Agents in MLSs already signed on—Rediger cited CRMLS, Bright MLS and REcolorado—appear automatically, with free click-to-contact. Brokers whose MLS hasn’t joined can route listings through MyStateMLS, which has a national footprint. Agents can also advertise alongside listings on a pay-per-lead basis, which Rediger estimated at $50 to $250 per opportunity. “Google’s a marketing company; they only want to sell marketing,” he said.
Rediger stressed that the listing data is walled off from Google’s AI.
“The real estate data that we’re working with Google on to display is not accessible through Gemini or any large language model,” he said, adding that HouseCanary is “contractually not allowing it to go into the Large Language Model (LLM) for training purposes.”
Featherston pointed to an estimated 16 billion Google searches per day, roughly 3.2 billion of them local. “Sixteen billion searches a day,” Rediger echoed, calling the number worth pausing on.
He also moved to reassure agents on compensation. “Google’s not a licensed real estate brokerage. They do not have rights or entitlements to any commissions,” describing the model as advertising and top-of-funnel—not a portal replacement.
On whether the setup squares with IDX rules, Rediger said HouseCanary is negotiating MLS by MLS, with some treating it as IDX-compliant and others preferring custom contracts. “I will stay out of the fight of what is or is not IDX,” he said.
Asked why brokerages should share listings with Google over rival portals, Rediger kept it simple.
“If you have the belief that the largest level of exposure will sell the house the fastest, then you want it everywhere. And this is a way to get it literally everywhere because of its user base,” noting listings can appear on Google at no cost—a rarity.
To view more webinars from RISMedia, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
