Zillow
Scraping Teardown
Find out everything you need to know to reliably scrape Zillow,
including scraping guides, Github Repos, proxy performance and more.
Zillow Web Scraping Overview
Zillow implements multiple layers of protection to prevent automated data extraction. This section provides an overview of its anti-bot systems and common challenges faced when scraping, along with insights into how these protections work and potential strategies to navigate them.
Scraping Summary
Zillow is a prominent online real estate marketplace, allowing users to browse for-sale, rental listings, compare home values and connect with local professionals. It's highly popular for web scraping because it contains rich information relevant to the real estate industry. Zillow does use anti-scraping technologies, which might include IP blocking, CAPTCHA solving, and user agent checking. To scrape Zillow, users need to implement rotating proxies and dynamic user agents, and preferably run their scrapers at a slow speed to avoid quick detection. The website's data is mostly static and the CSS structure isn't too complicated, thus the parsing difficulty is relatively low, while the access can be trickier due to anti-scraping systems.
Subdomains
Best Zillow Proxies
Proxy statistics and optimal proxy providers for scraping Zillow. Learn which proxy types work best, their success rates, and how to minimize bans with the right provider.
Zillow Anti-Bots
Anti-scraping systems used by Zillow to prevent web scraping. These systems can make it harder and more expensive to scrape the website but can be bypassed with the right tools and strategies.
Zillow Web Scraping Legality
Understand the legal considerations before scraping Zillow. Review the website's robots.txt file, terms & conditions, and any past lawsuits to assess the risks. Ensure compliance with applicable laws and minimize the chances of legal action.
Legality Review
Zillow's robots.txt and Terms of Service express a clear limitation on automated data extraction. Key sections of the site are off-limits to bots, and the terms clearly establish Zillow's desire to keep automated access under control. However, these policies don't automatically equate to a legal interdiction for scraping data accessible publicly without the need for authentication or bypassing controls. It's considered permissible to extract data from publicly accessible areas in many jurisdictions.
The line between web scraping and legal liabilities often appears blurred when areas requiring authentication, personal data, or deliberate bypassing of access controls are involved. Zillow's stance amplifies these legal risks, as indiscriminate scraping could potentially intersect with these risk zones. When accessing public content on platforms like Zillow, avoid breaching access controls, tread carefully around data that might be personal or copyrighted, and respect crawling etiquette to mitigate the risk for unanticipated legal implications.
Zillow Robots.txt
Does Zillow robot.txt permit web scraping?
Summary
The robots.txt file for Zillow imposes rigid rules limiting automated scraping for the standard crawlers. Essential directives such as Disallow: /homes/, Disallow: /homedetails/, Disallow: /howto/, and Disallow: /html/, prohibit access to the integral areas of the website. These instructions are applicable to all general user-agents, while distinguished search engine bots may have exemptions.
The file, however, does permit a few paths. Obvious permissions include Allow: /, Allow: /hotpads/, and Allow: /sitemap.xml along with sitemap locations specified. But given these permissions, it still creates a resilient environment where indiscriminate web scraping is largely restricted. The robots.txt file strongly signals a stringent stance towards web scraping, with controlled allowances for specific user agents.
Zillow Terms & Conditions
Does Zillow Terms & Conditions permit web scraping?
Summary
The terms of service for Zillow explicitly prohibit automated access and data extraction. The terms state:
“You may not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Services for any purpose without our express written permission.”
This covers all scraping, crawling, or bot-driven collection across both public and logged-in parts of the site. While terms can apply differently depending on whether a user has explicitly agreed (for example, by creating an account), Zillow frames this restriction as universal.
Zillow does not offer a general public API for bulk data extraction; access to data via APIs is limited to approved partners under separate agreements. The terms also prohibit bypassing access controls such as logins, rate limits, or CAPTCHAs and warn of enforcement actions including technical blocks, account suspension, and legal remedies for violations. In practice, scraping Zillow is forbidden unless you have prior written permission or a contractual API arrangement—otherwise, attempts to automate access are likely to be blocked and can trigger further action.
Zillow Lawsuits
Legal Actions Against Scrapers: A history of lawsuits filed by the website owner against scrapers and related entities, highlighting legal disputes, claims, and outcomes.
Lawsuits Summary
Zillow has not been involved in any known legal disputes related to web scraping.
Found 0 lawsuits