Broker Public Portal expands Cribio as data control debate grows

As the real estate industry debates listing data control, syndication and monetization, pointing fingers at some of the industry’s largest companies, one listing website is continuing to quietly increase its reach and spread the message that brokers can post listings on a consumer-facing website while still maintaining control over the data. 

Launched in 2014 as an industry-led effort by MLSs and brokerages to create a national home search platform, the Broker Public Portal is by no means new to the industry. However, in recent months the BPP and its consumer-facing portal Cribio, relaunched in September of 2025, have been gaining momentum, with five more brokers and MLSs already signing onto the platform this year. 

Compete with portals but maintain control over listing data

The goal of the BPP is to create a platform that competes with advertising and lead generation-powered listing portals like Zillow or Realtor.com, but keeps control over listing data and the leads listings generated in the hands of brokers and agents. This, however, means that brokers and MLSs have to pay to have their listings on Cribio.

“The portals are free because they have other monetization strategies, such as advertising, selling leads and success fees and the unfortunate part is, I don’t think this is the model most people thought they were initially buying into because originally it was the listing agent that was promoted with the listings. But because of the way this works, when you ask an MLS or a broker to pay for a portal they look at you strangely,” Dan Troup, the CEO of BPP, said. “But in this instance we are asking them to pay for a portal, but they don’t have to compromise anything on the back side — no advertising, no leads, no selling to agents or mortgage conversions.” 

Launching in three markets next quarter

Despite the initial hesitancy of some brokers, Troup said BPP currently supports nearly 400,000 agents on the platform, with plans to launch in at least three new markets within the next quarter.

“We are continuing to grow from an ownership standpoint, with more brokers and MLSs becoming unit holders, but the only way we can continue on and make the company sustainable is to create a product in which our unit holders want to purchase,” Troup said. 

This, Troup said, was the impetus behind the launch of Cribio last fall and with brokers beginning to push for greater control over how their listing data is used by third parties, more and more are becoming interested in the Cribio platform. 

“We are really leaning into the MLS because it is where the data lives and it is the place the agent works out of, but you can’t tap into it as a consumer — you need some type of shared infrastructure,” Troup said. “But if you go to One Key MLS, for example, you can search the same markets that are on Cribio, so we are really breaking down the borders of consumer search for MLSs that work with us. We call it ‘brokers without borders’.” 

Is a national MLS the way to go?

While Troup is hoping to see the continued growth of BPP and Cribio as they welcome more brokerages and MLS to their ownership base, he doesn’t believe a national MLS is where the industry should go.

“I think there are some people with how their business models work, who would love a single source of listing information, but what I don’t want us to lose is all of the small nuances in the local data sets,” Troup said. 

As an example, Troup highlighted the lakefront cottage properties that dot the northern parts of his home state of Michigan. 

“In the MLS there I can search for homes based on not only the type of frontage the lake home has — shared or private— but also by how much frontage, if that frontage is on a lake or a river, if it is an all-sports lake or what type of boat I can have on the lake,” he said. “How do we get to a national MLS or even far fewer MLSs without losing all of that information that I think is great for consumers to have?” 

Breaking down boundaries

Despite the renewed push by many for a national MLS, Troup does not feel BPP will ever become that resource. Instead he sees BPP’s role as breaking down the boundaries of listing data for agents, without their local MLS having to do multiple data shares. 

“Can we at least get to the point where the agent can see listings on the same level of what the consumer can see on Zillow? And let’s give the consumer a quality experience so that they don’t have to just rely on the top portals of today,” Troup said.

This, according to Troup, is becoming easier, as the traditional motes that protected the top portals, such as access to the best programming talent or infrastructure, are no longer relevant because Cribio operates on the same infrastructure and can access the same AI tools as the portals. 

“Now it comes down to visibility, which tends to be a bigger piece,” Troup said. “So, today we are really focused on going where the relationships already are, which is in the MLS between the agents and the consumers.” 

Looking ahead, Troup reiterated that he doesn’t believe BPP needs to have nationwide coverage for the initiative to be a success. 

“Continuing to have local wins with local MLSs, providing great local consumer search that is on par with the national portals of today — that is what we are after. We want to continue winning in some of these local marketplaces and really deliver that top consumer experience where those strong relationships exist today. We are not competing with the large portals on advertising — we don’t have the money or resources for that, but we do want to provide that portal experience on the local level and have success in that.”