T
he Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division has sided with Move Inc.'s claims that its residential listing platform, Realtor.com, is the top website trusted by real estate professionals. This decision comes as a win for Move, which had faced challenges from competitor CoStar Group, parent company of Homes.com.

    Realtor.com's spokesperson emphasized that trust drives their business and influences where customers invest their marketing dollars. The company plans to refile its claims against CoStar after making minor adjustments following the dismissal of two claims in a California-based lawsuit.

    CoStar's general counsel Gene Boxer countered that Realtor.com is losing ground to Homes.com, citing the latter's rising Net Promoter Score (NPS) and climbing traffic numbers. The two companies are also locked in a battle over who has the most traffic behind leading platform Zillow.

    Move had previously taken issue with CoStar's reported traffic numbers, arguing that Google Analytics isn't as reliable as third-party metrics from Comscore and Similar Web. According to Move, Realtor.com ranks as the No. 2 most visited site based on these metrics.

    In a previous complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau, Move had accused Homes.com of making "deceptive and misleading" claims about its traffic numbers. CoStar agreed to change its advertising campaigns after the BBB recommended it discontinue those claims. However, Realtor.com's claim to be the "#1 site real estate professionals trust" was upheld by the BBB, citing a survey of over 1,000 professionals conducted last August.

    CoStar has pushed back against Realtor.com's lead diversion model, arguing that its "Your Listing, Your Lead" business model is more beneficial for agents and consumers.