BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSGP) today announced that SHOWCASE.com(R) (http://www.showcase.com) continues to attract large numbers of subscribers and generate impressive revenue growth since launching only 19 months ago. More than 8,800 brokers are marketing their listings through SHOWCASE.com, an online marketing service for commercial real estate brokers to advertise their available property directly to tenants and buyers. For CoStar Group, the new product is currently generating more than $5 million in annualized revenue.
During 2009, the total number of SHOWCASE.com subscribers more than doubled. Much of that subscriber growth -- approximately 80% -- occurred over the past six months of the year as more and more brokers made the decision to market their listings with SHOWCASE.com.
For a table showing subscriber growth: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6987
And, SHOWCASE.com has continued to gain market share and attract subscribers at a time when the number of people using competitive services has fallen. While competitor Loopnet Inc. reported it had lost more than 18,000 of its "Premium Members" between the end of the first quarter 2008 and the end of the third quarter 2009, SHOWCASE.com added more than 7,000 subscribers during that time. As of the end of the 4th quarter, the number subscribing to SHOWCASE.com had grown to 8,854.
CoStar Group believes the subscriber growth at SHOWCASE.com could be attributed to three primary competitive benefits:
* Exposure: Listings receive tremendous online exposure, benefitting from the enormous traffic generated through unmatched keyword advertising on Google(TM), Yahoo!(R), Bing(R) and other popular search engines. CoStar Group believes this exposure is the reason why SHOWCASE.com has generated more than 500 million property views since inception * Affordability: Individual subscriptions are available for just $49.95 per month for an unlimited number of listings, which is up to 75% less than other services * Convenience: In many cases, the broker's listings are already in CoStar's database, requiring little additional effort to make them available on SHOWCASE.com
While there are many choices for marketing properties online, brokers from every one of the top 10 brokerage firms in the nation, by total active listings, currently are SHOWCASE.com subscribers. As example, commercial real estate professionals working at the following firms use SHOWCASE.com to market their listings:
CB Richard Ellis Colliers International Jones Lang LaSalle Cushman & Wakefield Grubb & Ellis Lee & Associates NAI Global Signature Associates Transwestern GVA Worldwide CresaPartners Coldwell Banker Commercial Sperry Van Ness Newmark Night Frank Marcus & Millichap Thalhimer Lincoln Property Group Duke Realty Corporation
And, they are joined by thousands of brokers from small and mid-size brokerage firms throughout the U.S. currently using this innovative online marketing service to their advantage.
"We were an early SHOWCASE.com adopter," noted Tim McNutt of Bright Realty in Dallas. "Within days of listing, we received a great lead from an office tenant. Within 30 days of that, we had a signed deal. We really like how SHOWCASE.com gives our listings priority placement on Google. The owners and retailers I represent want Google exposure. SHOWCASE.com delivers!"
"We've been around the block with LoopNet and other services. They're not for us. We've decided to commit to one Internet marketing service . and SHOWCASE is it," states William K. Jenkins of The Laramie Company. "It's our goal to be the top retail property brokerage in Denver. SHOWCASE is helping make it happen."
CoStar Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Florance said he is very pleased by the impressive growth and overall performance of SHOWCASE.com in such a relatively short period of time.
"The unprecedented market response to SHOWCASE.com far surpasses any new product launch in the history of our Company," noted Florance. "We believe the exceptional convenience, affordable cost and proven effectiveness of SHOWCASE.com have fueled the tremendous subscription growth we've seen this past year, and we further believe we are just beginning to tap the total market potential for this service."
About CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSGP) is the number one provider of information, marketing and analytic services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. CoStar's suite of services offers customers access via the Internet to the most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information throughout the U.S. as well as in the United Kingdom and France. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, CoStar has approximately 1,400 people working for the company worldwide, including the largest professional research organization in the industry. For more information, visit http://www.costar.com.
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" including, without limitation, statements regarding CoStar's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. More information about potential factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those stated in CoStar's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CoStar's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, under the heading "Risk Factors." In addition to these statements, there can be no assurance that SHOWCASE.com will continue to attract subscribers and generate revenue growth; that SHOWCASE.com will continue to be profitable; that SHOWCASE.com will continue to gain market share and attract subscribers; that keyword advertising will continue to generate significant property views via SHOWCASE.com; and that SHOWCASE.com will continue to be less expensive than competitors' services. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to CoStar on the date hereof, and CoStar assumes no obligation to update such statements.
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