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Updates to the article
edit | This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered. |
Hi, I would like to recommend some structural updates to the CoStar Group article for organization and clarity as now the article reads more like a list. Below I've included a suggested version of the History section - I added the subsections "Origins" and "Expansion," and distinguished the "Expansion" between the United States and Europe. I kept the original content but moved it into the appropriate subsections.
Revision proposal
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HistoryeditOriginseditCoStar Group was founded in 1987 by Andrew C. Florance in Washington, D.C.[1] It was reportedly one of the first companies that digitized and aggregated property data before the Internet was widely available.[1] In 1998, the company became a public company via an initial public offering on the NASDAQ, raising $22.5 million.[1] In 2004, CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc. became a landmark case in copyright law about the role of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in monitoring copyrighted content posted on its servers.[2] ExpansioneditUnited StateseditIn October 2009, the company acquired a building in, now its headquarters, from the Mortgage Bankers Association for $41.3 million. The building sold for $97 million two years earlier, and the company claims it used its analytics data to know the right time to buy.[3] In April 2021, CoStar Group acquired the online marketing site LoopNet for $860 million.[4][5] With the acquisition, CoStar Group also acquired Loopnet properties BizBuySell and LandsofAmerica.com.[6] In April 2014, the company acquired Apartments.com for $585 million.[7] In April 2015, the company acquired Apartment Finder for $170 million.[8] In February 2017, the company acquired Westside Rentals.[9] In March, the company acquired Spanish lending information platform Belbex.[10] In February 2018, the company acquired ForRent.com from Dominion Enterprises for $350 million in cash and $35 million in stock.[11] In November, the company acquired Cozy Services for $68 million.[12] In February 2019, the company announced that Oxford Economics would provide the economic data and forecasts used in CoStar's products.[13] In June, it was announced that CoStar Group would acquire Off Campus Partners, LLC, an online marketplace for off-campus student housing.[14] In October, it was announced that CoStar Group would acquire hotel research and analytics firm STR, Inc, for $450 million.[1] In May 2020, CoStar announced it acquired online real estate platform Ten-x, formerly Auction.com, for $190 million.[15][16] In October, CoStar Group bought Germany-based real estate data company Emporis.[17] In November, it was announced that CoStar Group acquired Homesnap, a residential mobile application provider, for $250 million in cash.[18] In April 2021, it was announced that CoStar Group acquired Homes.com, a residential real estate website from Dominion Enterprises, for $156 million in cash.[19] On April 22, 2024, it was announced that CoStar Group would acquire Matterport, a 3D spatial mapping company, for a cash and stock transaction deal at approximately US$1.6 billion.[20][21] EuropeeditIn May 2016, CoStar Group's European subsidiary CoStar Europe Ltd acquired German real estate business data company Thomas Daily.[22] In July 2016, the company acquired Belbex, an online marketplace and information provider for commercial property based in Spain, and in March the company acquired Spanish lending information platform Belbex.[10] In October 2018, the company acquired Realla.co.uk an online marketplace for commercial property based in the United Kingdom.[23] In October 2021, CoStar announced it was acquiring BureauxLocaux, a commercial property digital marketplace in France.[24] In October 2023, it was announced CoStar Group had acquired the London-headquartered property portal, OnTheMarket for £100 million.[25] References
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Thank you in advance for your help in improving the article structure. Hbensur (talk) 20:35, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
- I added an edit request template so someone will come by and review these changes. Chess (talk) (please mention me on reply) 21:16, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you InfiniteNexus for your help in restructuring this article! If you look below, based on your recommendation, I proposed some ideas for merging the Criticisms section into the other article sections.
Further Updates
edit | The user below has a request that an edit be made to CoStar Group. That user has an actual or apparent conflict of interest. The requested edits backlog is low. There are currently 84 requests waiting for review. Please read the instructions for the parameters used by this template for accepting and declining them, and review the request below and make the edit if it is well sourced, neutral, and follows other Wikipedia guidelines and policies. |
Following the restructure of this article, I'd like to suggest adding a "Marketing" subsection under "Business" with the following information: CoStar Group purchased an estimated $35 million worth of airtime during Super Bowl LVIII for four subsidiary Super Bowl commercials (three for Homes.com and one for Apartments.com).[1]
Second, as per InfiniteNexus's helpful recommendation, I would like to suggest moving the first two paragraphs of the "Criticism" section into the United States subsection of History so that it reads as follows:
- "In April 2021, it was announced that CoStar Group acquired Homes.com, a residential real estate website from Dominion Enterprises, for $156 million in cash.[2] In February 2022, CoStar Group came under criticism when American news website Business Insider reported that over 29 current and former employees claimed to have been excessively monitored and micromanaged, including with unscheduled check-in video calls made by the company's IT department. Additional criticism included reports of employees being publicly berated and arbitrarily fired in some cases.[3][4] The company also reportedly made efforts to take down criticism of itself on various social media platforms.[3] The company denied the complaints, claiming that discontent came from the company's high expectations.[3] CoStar has been criticized for anticompetitive and monopolistic business practices, often using aggressive litigation and "public-relations warfare" to "push [competitors] to the brink of collapse or weaken them enough to make them soft targets for an acquisition".[5] Competitors that CoStar has sued include 42Floors, RealMassive, Zillow, RentPath, Xcelligent (now bankrupt), and LoopNet (now a subsidiary), among others."
I suggest creating a "Legal issues" subsection under "Business" and moving the third paragraph from Criticism to that new subsection.
References
- ^ Kamin, Debra (12 February 2024). "CoStar Group's Super Bowl Debut: Dan Levy, Heidi Gardner and Jeff Goldblum". nytimes.com.
- ^ "CoStar Group to Acquire Homes.com for $156M". RisMedia. April 15, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ a b c Geiger, Daniel; Nicoll, Alex (22 February 2022). "Inside the mass exodus at CoStar, real estate's biggest data firm, where 29 current and former staffers say the company surveilled and humiliated them". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ TRD Staff (22 February 2022). "Employee surveillance, humiliation and exodus at CoStar". The Real Deal. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ Carvajal, Konrad Putzier, David Jeans, Christian Bautista and Nancy C. "CoStar Group | Real Estate Antitrust | Andrew Florance". The Real Deal. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Thank you very much! Hbensur (talk) 13:22, 16 October 2024 (UTC)
- @Hbensur: In the future, for a faster response, add {{Edit COI}} to the top of your request. This will add it into a centralized queue for someone to come by and review it. I've added it here for now. Chess (talk) (please mention me on reply) 03:07, 19 October 2024 (UTC)