(Reuters) -Zillow allegedly paid Redfin $100 million to stop competing against it in online apartment rental listings, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday in a lawsuit against the online real estate platforms.
The agency said the alleged deal reduces competition in an already concentrated market and is likely to drive up the cost of advertising vacancies in rental buildings with more than 25 units. The deal also reduces the incentive for the companies to compete by making their sites easier for renters to use, the FTC said in the lawsuit filed in Alexandria, Virginia.
