Lisbon, December 23, 2025 — Portugal’s competition authority AdC has issued a statement of objections against the operator of the country’s dominant online real estate listings portal, its parent company, and three senior executives, over alleged abuse of a dominant position in the national market for online property advertising.
The investigation concerns conduct between 2022 and 2024 that allegedly restricted access to the dominant property portal for real estate agencies using customer relationship management (CRM) software supplied by a rival provider. According to the AdC, the restrictions were applied with the aim of excluding the competing CRM supplier from the market.
CRM software is widely used by real estate agencies to manage property listings and client portfolios and to export advertisements directly to online property portals.
Alleged Exclusionary Conduct
The authority considers that the dominant portal operator may have leveraged its market power to limit interoperability with competing CRM solutions, thereby placing agencies using rival software at a competitive disadvantage. Such practices, if confirmed, could constitute an exclusionary strategy designed to foreclose competition in adjacent digital markets.
Following its investigation, the AdC concluded that there is a reasonable likelihood of a finding of infringement and therefore addressed a formal accusation to the portal operator, its parent company, and three members of senior management.
Procedural Next Steps
The case was opened on December 20, 2023, after the submission of a complaint that prompted the authority to gather evidence of potentially anticompetitive practices. The proceedings have now entered the instruction phase, during which the accused parties — who benefit from the presumption of innocence — may exercise their rights of defence, respond to the evidence collected, and comment on the potential sanctions.
The AdC will issue a final decision after the conclusion of this phase.
