Billions of dollars to buy domain names and websites,he buys a website first to see the value of the domain name!

The real estate industry has always been a highly regarded sector worldwide. For online real estate trading platforms, having a strong domain name is crucial to establish a foothold in the internet era. Today, we're going to discuss a real case where a company's development was closely intertwined with its domain name: Costar Group.

Founded by Andrew Florance in 1987, Costar Group is a leading provider of commercial real estate information, analysis, and online marketplace services. It is one of the earliest real estate technology companies. Its official website domain is costargroup.com.

Costar has always placed great importance on its brand's domain name strategy, and its resource allocation in this area is unparalleled by many other companies. However, this effort has yielded corresponding rewards. Below is Costar's journey in domain names and business acquisitions since its inception:

1. Comps.com

Initially known as RIG, Costar went public on NASDAQ in 1998, raising $22.5 million. In 2000, RIG acquired its competitor Comps.com, becoming a leader in the internet commercial real estate data field. The company also adopted a new name, CoStar Group, embracing full internet integration.

Currently, Comps.com redirects to its official website domain, costar.com. In 2005, National Research Bureau was acquired, marking CoStar's entry into retail real estate business.

2. Loopnet.com

In 2012, Costar invested $860 million to acquire the real estate leasing and auction platform LoopNet, along with its brand domain name Loopnet.com. The company also secured looplender.org, seattleloopnet.com, and loopnet.biz.

3. Apartments.com

In 2014, Costar invested $585 million to acquire Apartments.com, expanding into the apartment sector. The company also owns the singular form domain name "Apartment.com."

4. Apartmentfinder.com

In 2015, Costar invested $170 million to acquire Apartment Finder, a platform for apartment rentals, along with its official website domain apartmentfinder.com. Several other apartment-related projects under the company also adopted premium domain names: ApartmentHomeLiving.com, Apartamentos.com, etc.

5. Land.com

The same year, CoStar acquired the premium single-word domain "Land.com." Land.com has been utilized to establish a rural real estate sales platform in the United States. As of 2019, the website had served over 7 million users, generating substantial revenue for CoStar.

6. Westsiderentals.com

In 2017, CoStar acquired Westside Rentals, a major apartment leasing website in Santa Monica, California. Its official website domain is westsiderentals.com.

7. ForRent.com

In February 2018, CoStar invested $350 million in cash and $35 million in stock to acquire ForRent.com from Dominion Enterprises. "ForRent" still signifies high-quality housing rental platform and is now managed by Apartments.com.

8. Cozy.co

In November 2018, CoStar acquired Cozy Services for $68 million. Cozy.co, an online rental management website, was also part of the acquisition. The platform's operations were merged with Apartments.com.

9. Houses.com

In December 2020, CoStar announced the acquisition of Houses.com, a premium real estate domain name. This laid the foundation for CoStar's entry into the residential real estate market.

10. Homesnap.com

In December 2020, CoStar invested $250 million in cash to acquire Homesnap, with its official website domain Homesnap.com. This move positioned CoStar against Zillow's StreetEasy.

11. Homes.com

In May 2021, CoStar invested $156 million in cash to acquire the residential listing platform Homes.com, further expanding its presence in the residential real estate sector. This acquisition was projected to bring in up to $10 million in additional revenue for CoStar in the latter half of the year.

Today, CoStar has become the leading commercial real estate information service provider in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its business covers office, retail, industrial, apartment, hotel, and land sectors, spanning countries including the U.S., Canada, UK, France, and Spain. Currently, CoStar tracks over 6 million assets and showcases over 1 million rental or sale listings, with a market capitalization of $33.842 billion.

From CoStar's decades-long acquisition history, it's evident that the acquired companies all share a common characteristic: they possess high-quality domain names related to the real estate industry. These real estate industry keyword domains convey the platform's business attributes at a glance, often with a history of strong web presence, leading to lower marketing costs. Although the value of these acquisitions reached billions of dollars, premium domain names can shape a company's brand, enhance brand recognition, build user trust, and drive more traffic, resulting in significant benefits for CoStar.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," and a company's brand isn't either. We don't know if CoStar's "deep-pocketed" acquisition strategy will continue, but its emphasis and application of brand domain names are valuable lessons for all entrepreneurs to learn from.