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Is a Zillow Widget making your Blog Posts unreachable?

By
Real Estate Agent with Houston Prime Realty 369730

Recently I was surfing ActiveRain and kept encountering a Zillow 404 page when I clicked on an interesting blog post.  I thought this was a bit frustrating, but did not give it any more thought.  A few weeks later, I encountered this page when I clicked on my own Mortgage Info page on my website.

After a bit of research, it turns out that Zillow has discontinued most of the free widgets that they previously offered to ActiveRain bloggers and real estate agents on their individual websites.  The strange thing is, that instead of just ceasing to function, it redirects the whole webpage to a 404 page on the Zillow website moving the reader off of your website and on to the Zillow page.

If you have ever used a Zillow produced widget on your Blog or website, this could be happening to you now.  Luckily, I only used one widget on one page and was quickly able to delete it.  I highly recommend you go through your blog and website and remove these widgets before you suffer a significant website traffic loss!

Show All Comments Sort:
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Kevan- interesting.  I am not an agent and don't use any Zillow widgets but I'm sure that those who do will appreciate this information!

Mar 07, 2017 04:34 PM
Les & Sarah Oswald
Realty One Group - Eastvale, CA
Broker, Realtor and Investor

I don't use Zillow widgets. They have taken enough google juice from my own websites.

Mar 07, 2017 04:52 PM
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Ward County Notary Services - Minot, ND
Owner of Ward Co Notary Services retired RE Broker

Great information Kevan Pewitt . I used to use a widget or two so I better go back and check around.

Mar 07, 2017 04:55 PM
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

Agents just dont get it...We had it great before we started supporting the 3 rd party non-professional sites.

Mar 07, 2017 05:00 PM
Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807
HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ
Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

Kevan - Great advice. I used to think widgets were good, but realized that all they do is draw potential clients away from your website or blog.

Mar 07, 2017 09:46 PM
Kevan Pewitt
Houston Prime Realty - Houston, TX

I agree Troy Erickson Most third party widgets benefit the third party.  The only blog widgets that I found are beneficial are ones offereing something to a website vistor that results in a lead for the website owner.

Mar 08, 2017 06:02 AM
Hannah Williams
HomeStarr Realty - Philadelphia, PA
Expertise NE Philadelphia & Bucks 215-820-3376

I had this problem Kevan Pewitt   even though I deleted it the shadow of it remained .Thankfully Brad Andersohn  found the fix and saved the day .

Jan 09, 2018 09:11 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Yes, Zillow removed all their widgets from their site which causes this error and redirect if you have any of their widgets installed on your websites and blogs etc. I wrote a post announcing this here if you want more info? Here's a link: http://activerain.com/blogsview/5020628/remove-your-broken-zillow-widgets

Jan 10, 2018 03:05 PM
Peter Mohylsky,
PMI. Destin - Miramar Beach, FL
Call me at 850-517-7098

Is this still accurate information.  things change so quickly I cant keep up. 

Jan 29, 2018 06:30 AM
Kevan Pewitt
Houston Prime Realty - Houston, TX

Hi Peter Mohylsky , I have not checked to see if their new widgets are available or working.  After they discontinued the old ones and used them to redirect traffic to their own site, I decided I would not want to have their widgets on my website.

Jan 29, 2018 09:18 AM