COSTAR GROUP INC

Previous wording

Our revenues and financial position will be adversely affected if we are not able to attract and retain clients. Our success and revenues depend on attracting and retaining subscribers to our information, analytics and online marketplace services. Our subscription-based services generate the largest portion of our revenues. Our revenue may not grow, or could decrease, if we cannot attract new customers, continue to keep our cancellation rate low and continue to sell new services to our existing customers. We may not be able to continue to grow our customer base, keep the cancellation rate low or sell new services to existing customers as a result of several factors, including, continuing global economic and geopolitical volatility, economic pressures and the impact of inflation on our costs and on customer spending; the business failure of current clients; customer decisions that they do not need our services or to use alternative services; customers’ and potential customers’ budgetary constraints; consolidation in the real estate and/or financial services industries; data quality; technical problems; competitive pressures; or devaluation of the local currencies of international customers relative to the U.S. dollar which impairs the purchasing power of such customers. We compete against many other real estate information, analytics and marketing service providers for business. If clients cancel services or decide not to renew their subscription agreements and we do not sell new services to our existing clients or attract new clients, then our renewal rate, net new bookings and revenues may decline or fail to meet expectations.

Current wording

We may not be able to attract and retain new clients, which could adversely affect our revenues and financial position. Our success and revenues depend on attracting and retaining subscribers to our information, analytics, and online marketplace services, which generate the largest portion of our revenues. Our renewal rate, net new booking and revenues may not grow, or could decrease, if we cannot attract new customers, continue to keep our cancellation rate low, and continue to sell new services to our existing customers, which may occur as a result of several factors, including, continuing global economic and geopolitical volatility, economic pressures, and the impact of inflation on our costs and on customer spending; the business failure of current clients; customer decisions that they do not need our services or to use alternative services; customers’ and potential customers’ budgetary constraints; consolidation in the real estate and/or financial services industries; data quality; technical problems; competitive pressures; or devaluation of the local currencies of international customers relative to the U.S. dollar which impairs the purchasing power of such customers.

Previous wording

We may not be able to successfully develop and introduce new or upgraded information, analytics and online marketplace services that are attractive to our users and advertisers or successfully combine or shift focus from current services with less demand, which could decrease our revenues and our profitability. Our future business and financial success will depend on our ability to continue to anticipate the needs of customers and potential customers and to successfully introduce new and upgraded services, including services that make our marketplaces useful for users and attractive to advertisers. To be successful, we must be able to quickly adapt to changes in the industry, as well as rapid technological changes, by continually enhancing our information, analytics and online marketplace services. As a result, we must continually invest resources in research and development to improve the appeal and comprehensiveness of our services and effectively incorporate new technologies.

Current wording

We may not be able to successfully develop and introduce new or upgraded online marketplace services, information, and analytics that are attractive to our users and advertisers or successfully combine or shift focus from current services with less demand, which could decrease our revenues and our profitability. Our future business and financial success will depend on our ability to continue to anticipate the needs of customers and potential customers and to successfully introduce new and upgraded services, including services that make our marketplaces useful for users and attractive to advertisers. To be successful, we must be able to quickly adapt to changes in the industry, as well as rapid technological changes, including AI and machine learning, by continually enhancing our information, analytics, and online marketplace services. If we fail to introduce new and upgraded services in response to these changes in a timely and cost-efficient manner, or to adequately address the changing needs of our clients, our services could become less competitive or obsolete, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. As a result, we must continually invest resources in research and development, both through internal investments and the acquisition of intellectual property from companies that we have acquired, to improve the appeal and comprehensiveness of our services and effectively incorporate new technologies, which could have an adverse effect on our financial results.

Previous wording

Developing new services and upgrades to services, as well as integrating and coordinating current services, imposes heavy burdens on our systems department, product development team, management and researchers. The processes are costly, and our efforts to develop, integrate and enhance our services may not be successful. In addition, launching and selling a new or upgraded service puts additional strain on our sales and marketing resources. If we are unsuccessful in obtaining greater market share or in obtaining widespread adoption of new or upgraded services, we may not be able to offset the expenses associated with the development, launch and marketing of the new or upgraded service, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. For example, we have and will continue to invest significantly in developing our marketplaces and content and, to generate brand awareness and site traffic, we have and will continue to invest significant resources in multi-channel marketing campaigns for select marketplaces. If these development efforts and marketing campaigns do not increase brand awareness, site traffic, subscriptions for marketplaces services and/or revenues, the cost of these campaigns could have an adverse effect on our financial results.

Current wording

Developing new services and upgrades to services, as well as integrating and coordinating current services, imposes heavy burdens on our systems department, product development team, management, and researchers. The processes are costly, and our efforts to develop, integrate, and enhance our services may not be successful. In addition, launching and selling a new or upgraded service puts additional strain on our sales and marketing resources. If we are unsuccessful in obtaining greater market share or in obtaining widespread adoption of new or upgraded services, we may not be able to offset the expenses associated with the development, launch, and marketing of the new or upgraded service, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. For example, we have and will continue to invest significantly in developing our marketplaces and content, and, to generate brand awareness and site traffic, we have and will continue to invest significant resources in multi-channel marketing campaigns for select marketplaces. If these development efforts and marketing campaigns do not increase brand awareness, site traffic, subscriptions for marketplaces services and/or revenues, the cost of these campaigns could have an adverse effect on our results of operation.

Previous wording

In addition, as we integrate acquired businesses, we continue to assess which services we believe will best meet the needs of our customers. If we eliminate or phase out a service and are not able to offer and successfully market and sell an alternative service, our revenues may decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Current wording

In addition, as we integrate acquired businesses, we continue to assess which services we believe will best meet the needs of our customers. If we eliminate or phase out a service and are not able to offer and successfully market and sell an alternative service, our revenues may decrease, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Previous wording

Competition could render our services uncompetitive and reduce our profitability. The markets for information systems and services and for online marketplaces in general are highly competitive and rapidly changing. Competition in these markets may increase further if economic conditions or other circumstances cause customer bases and customer spending to decrease and service providers to compete for fewer customer resources. Our existing or future competitors may have greater name recognition, larger customer bases, better technology or data, lower prices, easier access to data, greater user traffic or greater financial, technical or marketing resources than we have to provide services that users might view as superior to our offerings. Competitors may introduce different solutions that attract users away from our services or provide solutions similar to ours that have the advantage of better branding or marketing resources. Our competitors may be able to undertake more effective marketing campaigns, obtain more data, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, make more attractive offers to potential employees, subscribers, advertisers, distribution partners and content providers or may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies or changes in user requirements. Increased competition could result in lower revenues and higher expenses, which would reduce our profitability.

Current wording

Competition could render our services uncompetitive and reduce our profitability. The markets for information systems and services and for online marketplaces in general are highly competitive and rapidly changing. If we are unable to compete successfully against our existing or future competitors, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be adversely affected. Our existing or future competitors may have greater name recognition, larger customer bases, better technology or data, lower prices, easier access to data, greater user traffic or greater financial, technical, or marketing resources than we have to provide services that users might view as superior to our offerings. Competition in these markets may increase if economic conditions or other circumstances cause customer bases and customer spending to decrease and service providers to compete for fewer customer resources. Competitors may introduce different solutions that attract users away from our services or provide solutions similar to ours that have the advantage of better branding or marketing resources. Our competitors may be able to undertake more effective marketing campaigns, obtain more data, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, make more attractive offers to potential employees, subscribers, advertisers, distribution partners, and content providers, or may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies or changes in user requirements. Increased competition could result in lower revenues and higher expenses, which would reduce our profitability.

Previous wording

We may not be able to compete successfully against existing or future competitors in attracting advertisers, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. We compete to attract advertisers. Our competitors may have greater brand recognition or more direct sales personnel than we have and may generate more web traffic than we do, which may provide them with competitive advantages. To compete successfully for advertisers, we must continue to invest resources in developing our advertising platform and proving the effectiveness and relevance of our advertising services. Pressure from competitors seeking to acquire a greater share of our advertisers’ overall marketing budget could adversely affect our pricing and margins, lower our revenue and increase our research and development and marketing expenses. If we are unable to compete successfully against our existing or future competitors, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected.

Current wording

Also, we compete to attract advertisers. To compete successfully for advertisers, we must continue to invest resources in developing our advertising platform and proving the effectiveness and relevance of our advertising services. Pressure from competitors seeking to acquire a greater share of our advertisers’ overall marketing budget could adversely affect our pricing and margins, lower our revenue, and increase our research and development and marketing expenses.

Previous wording

Our operating results and revenues are subject to fluctuations and our quarterly financial results may be subject to market cyclicality, each of which could negatively affect our stock price. The real estate market may be influenced by general economic conditions, economic cycles, changes in interest rates, seasonality and many other factors, which in turn may impact our financial results. The different sectors of the large and fragmented industry, such as office, industrial, retail, multifamily, single family and others, are influenced differently by different factors, and have historically moved through economic cycles with different timing. As such, it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of economic cycles and conditions or seasonality from year-to-year on our overall operating results. For example, we generally see higher sales of Apartments.com listing services during the peak summer rental season and higher CoStar sales towards the end of the year; however, sales fluctuate from year-to-year and may fluctuate more widely when there are changes in general economic conditions or the industry.The timing of widely observed holidays and vacation periods, particularly slowdowns during the end-of-year holiday period, and availability of real estate agents and related service providers during these periods, could significantly affect our quarterly operating results during that period. If we are unable to adequately respond to economic, seasonal or cyclical conditions, our revenues, expenses and operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Our operating results, revenues and expenses may fluctuate for many reasons, including those described in this paragraph and below:

Current wording

Our operating results and revenues are subject to fluctuations, and our quarterly financial results may be subject to market cyclicality, each of which could negatively affect our stock price. The real estate market may be influenced by general economic conditions, economic cycles, changes in interest rates, seasonality, and many other factors, which in turn may impact our financial results. The different sectors of the large and fragmented real estate industry, such as office, industrial, retail, multifamily, single family, and others, are influenced differently by different factors, and have historically moved through economic cycles with different timing. As such, it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of economic cycles and conditions or seasonality from year-to-year on our overall operating results. For example, we generally see higher sales of Apartments.com listing services during the peak summer rental season and higher CoStar sales towards the end of the year; however, sales fluctuate from year-to-year and may fluctuate more widely when there are changes in general economic conditions or the industry. The timing of widely observed holidays and vacation periods, particularly slowdowns during the end-of-year holiday period, and availability of real estate agents and related service providers during these periods, could significantly affect our quarterly operating results during that period. If we are unable to adequately respond to economic, seasonal, or cyclical conditions, our revenues, expenses, and operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Our operating results, revenues, and expenses may fluctuate for many reasons, including those described in this paragraph and below:

Previous wording

Global economic uncertainties and downturns or a downturn or consolidation in the real estate industry may decrease customer demand for our services and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Global economic uncertainties or downturns could adversely affect our business and results of operations, including financial and credit market fluctuations, changes in economic policy, increased inflation and responsive actions, rising interest rates or a period of elevated interest rates, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, trade uncertainty, political unrest, geographical instability or other impacts from the macroeconomic environment. These macroeconomic conditions could cause a decrease in customer spending and negatively affect the rate of growth of our business. The real estate market may be adversely impacted by many different factors, including lower than expected job growth or job losses resulting in reduced real estate demand; reduced real estate demand due to continued remote work policies or a period of elevated interest rates; rising interest rates, inflation, slowing transaction volumes and other macroeconomic trends that negatively impact investment returns; excessive speculative new construction in localized markets resulting in increased vacancy rates and diminished rent growth; unanticipated disasters or global health events; and other adverse events such as decreased growth in the working age population resulting in reduced demand for all types of real estate. In response to concerns over inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in each quarter of 2022 and the first, second and third quarters 2023. A downturn in the real estate market, including as a result of increased interest rates or a decline in leasing activity and absorption rates may affect our ability to generate revenues and may lead to more cancellations by our current or future customers, either of which could cause our revenues or our revenue growth rate to decline and reduce our profitability. A depressed real estate market has a negative impact on our core customer base, which could decrease demand for our information, analytics and online marketplaces. Also, companies in this industry may consolidate, often in order to reduce expenses. Consolidation, or other cost-cutting measures by our customers, may lead to cancellations of our information, analytics and online marketplace services by our customers, reduce the number of our existing clients, reduce the size of our target market or increase our clients’ bargaining power, all of which could cause our revenues to decline and reduce our profitability. If cancellations, reductions of services and failures to pay increase, and we are unable to offset the resulting decrease in revenues by increasing sales to new or existing customers, our revenues may decline or grow at lower rates.

Current wording

Global economic uncertainties and downturns or a downturn or consolidation in the real estate industry may decrease customer demand for our services and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Global economic uncertainties or downturns could adversely affect our business and results of operations, including financial and credit market fluctuations, changes in economic policy, elevated inflation and responsive actions, elevated interest rates, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, trade uncertainty, political unrest, geographical instability, unanticipated disasters or global health events, or other impacts from the macroeconomic environment. These macroeconomic conditions could cause a decrease in customer spending and negatively affect the rate of growth of our business. The real estate market may be adversely impacted by many different factors, including lower than expected job growth or job losses resulting in reduced real estate demand; reduced real estate demand due to continued remote work policies or a period of or rising elevated interest rates, elevated inflation, slowing transaction volumes, and other macroeconomic trends that negatively impact investment returns; excessive speculative new construction in localized markets resulting in increased vacancy rates and diminished rent growth; unanticipated disasters or global health events; and other adverse events such as decreased growth in the working age population resulting in reduced demand for all types of real estate. A downturn in the real estate market, including as a result of increased interest rates or a decline in leasing activity and absorption rates may affect our ability to generate revenues and may lead to more cancellations by our current or future customers, either of which could cause our revenues or our revenue growth rate to decline and reduce our profitability. A depressed real estate market has a negative impact on our core customer base, which could decrease demand for our online marketplaces, information, and analytics. Also, companies in this industry may consolidate, often in order to reduce expenses. Consolidation, or other cost-cutting measures by our customers, may lead to cancellations of our online marketplace services, information, and analytics by our customers, reduce the number of our existing clients, reduce the size of our target market, or increase our clients’ bargaining power, all of which could cause our revenues to decline and reduce our profitability. If cancellations, reductions of services, and failures to pay increase, and we are unable to offset the resulting decrease in revenues by increasing sales to new or existing customers, our revenues may decline or grow at lower rates.

Previous wording

If we are unable to hire qualified persons for, or retain and continue to develop, our sales force, or if our sales force is unproductive, our revenues could be adversely affected. In order to support revenues and revenue growth, we need to continue to develop, train and retain our sales force. Our ability to build and develop a strong sales force may be affected by a number of factors, including: our ability to attract, integrate and motivate sales personnel; our ability to effectively train our sales force; the ability of our sales force to sell an increased number and different types of services; our ability to manage effectively an outbound telesales group; the length of time it takes new sales personnel to become productive; the competition we face from other companies in hiring and retaining sales personnel; our ability to effectively structure our sales force; and our ability to effectively manage a multi-location sales organization, including field sales personnel. If we are unable to hire qualified sales personnel and develop and retain our sales force, including sales force management, or if our sales force is unproductive, our revenues or growth rate could decline and our expenses could increase. We may face additional challenges in hiring employees in an increasingly competitive job market.

Current wording

If we are unable to hire qualified persons for, or retain and continue to develop our sales force, or if our sales force is unproductive, our revenues could be adversely affected. In order to support revenues and revenue growth, we need to continue to develop, train, and retain our sales force. Our ability to build and develop a strong sales force may be affected by a number of factors, including: our ability to attract, integrate, and motivate sales personnel; our ability to effectively train our sales force; the ability of our sales force to sell an increased number and different types of services; our ability to manage effectively an outbound telesales group; the length of time it takes new sales personnel to become productive; the competition we face from other companies in hiring and retaining sales personnel; our ability to effectively structure our sales force; and our ability to effectively manage a multi-location sales organization, including field sales personnel. If we shift our sales force from their specialized positions to tackle a certain product or service with higher priority or long-term potential, our revenue growth from other products or services may decline, and we may experience decreased sales force productivity and increased sales force turnover and incur additional retention or hiring costs related to our sales force. If we are unable to hire qualified sales personnel and develop and retain our sales force, including sales force management, or if our sales force is unproductive, our revenues or growth rate could decline and our expenses could increase. We may face additional challenges in hiring employees in an increasingly competitive job market.

Previous wording

Our business depends on retaining and attracting highly capable management and operating personnel. Our success depends in large part on our ability to retain and attract management and operating personnel, including our President and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Florance, and our other officers and key employees. Our business requires highly skilled technical, sales, management, web product and development, marketing and research personnel, who are in high demand and are often subject to competing offers. The measures we use to attract and retain key personnel may not be enough to attract and retain the personnel we need or to offset the impact on our business of the loss of the services of Mr. Florance or other key officers or employees. If Mr. Florance were to become unavailable for any reason, there could be a material adverse impact on our operations. The loss of other key personnel, including members of management as well as key technology, product development, and marketing personnel, could also disrupt our operations and have an adverse effect on our business.

Current wording

Our business depends on retaining and attracting highly capable management and operating personnel. Our success depends in large part on our ability to retain and attract management and operating personnel, including our President and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Florance, and our other officers, and key employees. Our business requires highly skilled technical, sales, management, web product and development, marketing, and research personnel, who are in high demand and are often subject to competing offers. The measures we use to attract and retain key personnel may not be enough to attract and retain the personnel we need or to offset the impact on our business of the loss of the services of Mr. Florance or other key officers or employees. If we were to lose the services of Mr. Florance for any reason, there could be a material adverse impact on our operations. The loss of other key personnel, including members of management, as well as key technology, product development, and marketing personnel, could also disrupt our operations and have an adverse effect on our business.

Previous wording

Introducing new products may be difficult and expensive. If we are unable to do so successfully, our brands may be adversely affected, and we may not be able to maintain or grow our current revenue and profit levels. In February 2024 we launched our Homes.com monetization strategy. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant costs to develop and market Homes.com. If we are unable to attract and retain agent subscribers and consumers, we may not be able to execute our growth plans or recognize a return on the investments we have made into Homes.com. Failure to gain market acceptance for Homes.com could impede our ability to maintain or grow current revenue levels or reduce profits for our other brands, adversely affect the image of our brands, erode our competitive position, and result in long-term harm to our business and financial results. Extrapolations annualizing initial sales results may differ materially from actual results realized in future periods and may not take into account other future market conditions that may negatively affect those results.

Current wording

Introducing new products may be difficult and expensive. If we are unable to do so successfully, our brands may be adversely affected, and we may not be able to maintain or grow our current revenue and profit levels. To remain competitive and stimulate consumer and business demand, we must successfully manage new product introductions and transitions of products and services. Our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to identify demand trends in our markets, and to quickly develop or acquire, market and sell products and services that satisfy these demands in a cost-effective manner. In order to differentiate our products from our competitors’ products, we must continue to increase our focus and capital investment in research and development and marketing and sales. For example, in February 2024, we launched our Homes.com monetization strategy. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant costs to develop and market Homes.com. If we are unable to attract and retain agent subscribers and consumers, we may not be able to execute our growth plans or recognize a return on the investments we have made into Homes.com. Failure to gain market acceptance for Homes.com or any other new product could impede our ability to maintain or grow current revenue levels or reduce profits for our other brands, adversely affect the image of our brands, erode our competitive position, and result in long-term harm to our business, and financial results. Extrapolations annualizing initial sales results may differ materially from actual results realized in future periods and may not take into account other future market conditions that may negatively affect those results.

Previous wording

We may be unable to increase awareness of our brands, including CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, Homes.com Land.com, BizBuySell, STR, Ten-X, and OnTheMarket, which could adversely affect our business. We rely heavily on our brands, which we believe are key assets of our company. Awareness and differentiation of our brands are important for attracting and expanding the number of users of, and subscribers to, our online marketplaces, such as the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, our Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, the Land.com Network and our CoStar Showcase. We continue to invest significantly in sales and marketing as we seek to grow the numbers of users of, subscribers to and advertisers on, our marketplaces. Our methods of advertising may not be successful in increasing brand awareness or, ultimately, be cost-effective. If we are unable to maintain or enhance user and advertiser awareness of our brands, or if we are unable to recover our marketing and advertising costs through increased usage of our services and increased advertising on our websites, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Current wording

We may be unable to increase awareness of our brands, including CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, Homes.com, Land.com, BizBuySell, STR, Ten-X, and OnTheMarket, which could adversely affect our business. We rely heavily on our brands, which we believe are key assets of our company. Awareness and differentiation of our brands are important for attracting and expanding the number of users of, and subscribers to, our online marketplaces, such as the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, the Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, and the Land.com Network. We continue to invest significantly in sales and marketing as we seek to grow the numbers of users of, subscribers to and advertisers on, our marketplaces. Our methods of advertising may not be successful in increasing brand awareness or, ultimately, be cost-effective. If we are unable to maintain or enhance user and advertiser awareness of our brands, or if we are unable to recover our marketing and advertising costs through increased usage of our services and increased advertising on our websites, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Previous wording

If internet search engines do not prominently feature our websites on the search engine results page, traffic to our websites would decrease and, if we are unable to maintain or increase traffic to our marketplaces, our business and operating results could be adversely affected. Our ability to generate revenues from our marketplace business depends, in part, on our ability to attract users to our websites. Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and other internet search engines drive traffic to our websites, including CoStar.com, the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, our Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, the Land.com Network, Ten-X.com and BizBuySell. For example, when a user enters in a search query for an apartment building name or address into an internet search engine, the internet search engine’s ranking of our Apartments.com or Homes.com webpages will determine how prominently such webpages are displayed on the search engine results page. Our ability to maintain prominent search result rankings and positioning is not entirely within our control. Our competitors’ SEO and SEM efforts may result in webpages from their websites receiving higher rankings than the webpages from our websites. Internet search engines could revise their algorithms and methodologies in ways that would adversely affect our search result rankings. Internet search engine providers could form partnerships or enter into other business relationships with our competitors resulting in competitors’ sites receiving higher search result rankings. Internet search engines are increasingly placing alternative search features (such as featured snippets, local map results and other immersive experiences) on the search engine results page above or more prominently than search engine results. If our search result rankings are not prominently displayed, traffic to our websites may decline which could slow the growth of our user base. Our websites have experienced fluctuations in search result rankings in the past and we anticipate similar fluctuations will occur in the future. If we experience a material reduction in the number of users directed to our websites through internet search engines or otherwise fail to maintain or increase traffic to our marketplaces, our ability to acquire additional subscribers or advertisers and deliver leads to and retain existing subscribers and advertisers could be adversely affected. As a result, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Increases in our operating expenses could negatively impact our operating results if we are unable to generate more revenues through increased sales of subscriptions to our marketplace products. Additionally, the methods, including Google Analytics, that we use to measure unique visitors to our portals may misstate the actual number of unique persons who visit our network of mobile applications and websites for a given month or may differ from the methods u…

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Current wording

If internet search engines do not prominently feature our websites on the search engine results page, traffic to our websites would decrease, and, if we are unable to maintain or increase traffic to our marketplaces, our business and operating results could be adversely affected. Our ability to generate revenues from our marketplace business depends, in part, on our ability to attract users to our websites. Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and other internet search engines drive traffic to our websites, including CoStar.com, the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, our Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, the Land.com Network, Ten-X.com, and BizBuySell. For example, when a user enters in a search query for an apartment building name or address into an internet search engine, the internet search engine’s ranking of our Apartments.com or Homes.com webpages will determine how prominently such webpages are displayed on the search engine results page. Our ability to maintain prominent search result rankings and positioning is not entirely within our control. Our competitors’ SEO and SEM efforts may result in webpages from their websites receiving higher rankings than the webpages from our websites. Internet search engines could revise their algorithms and methodologies in ways that would adversely affect our search result rankings. Internet search engine providers could form partnerships or enter into other business relationships with our competitors resulting in competitors’ sites receiving higher search result rankings. Internet search engines are increasingly placing alternative search features (such as featured snippets, local map results, and other immersive experiences) on the search engine results page above or more prominently than search engine results. If our search result rankings are not prominently displayed, traffic to our websites may decline which could slow the growth of our user base. Our websites have experienced fluctuations in search result rankings in the past, and we anticipate similar fluctuations will occur in the future. If we experience a material reduction in the number of users directed to our websites through internet search engines or otherwise fail to maintain or increase traffic to our marketplaces, our ability to acquire additional subscribers or advertisers and deliver leads to and retain existing subscribers and advertisers could be adversely affected. As a result, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected. Increases in our operating expenses could negatively impact our operating results if we are unable to generate more revenues through increased sales of subscriptions to our marketplace products. Additionally, the methods, including Google Analytics, that we use to measure average monthly unique visitors to our portals may misstate the actual number of unique persons who visit our network of mobile applications and websites for a given month or may diff…

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Previous wording

If real estate professionals or other advertisers reduce or cancel their advertising spending with us and we are unable to attract new advertisers, our operating results would be harmed. Our marketplace businesses, including the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, our Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, CoStar Showcase and the Land.com Network, depend on advertising revenues generated primarily through sales to persons in the real estate industry, including broker, agents, property managers and owners, real estate agents, and other advertisers. Our ability to attract and retain advertisers, and ultimately to generate advertising revenue, depends on a number of factors, including:

Current wording

If real estate professionals or other advertisers reduce or cancel their advertising spending with us and we are unable to attract new advertisers, our operating results would be harmed. Our marketplace businesses, including the LoopNet Network, the Apartments.com Network, the Homes.com and OnTheMarket residential marketplaces, and the Land.com Network, depend on advertising revenues generated primarily through sales to persons in the real estate industry, including broker, agents, property managers and owners, real estate agents, and other advertisers. Our ability to attract and retain advertisers, and ultimately to generate advertising revenue, depends on a number of factors, including:

Previous wording

Further, with respect to the Apartments.com Network and LoopNet Networks, our ability to attract and retain advertisers also depends on the current apartment rental market and apartment vacancy rates and commercial rental market and vacancy rates, respectively. If vacancy rates are too high or too low, advertisers may not need to utilize our marketplace services.

Current wording

Further, with respect to the Apartments.com Network and LoopNet Network, our ability to attract and retain advertisers also depends on the current apartment rental market and apartment vacancy rates and commercial rental market and vacancy rates, respectively. If vacancy rates are too high or too low, advertisers may not need to utilize our marketplace services.

Previous wording

We are also likely to incur severance costs and other integration costs post-acquisition. Costs in connection with acquisitions and integrations may be higher than expected and could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or prospects of the combined business. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, including risks that we will not be able to realize or capitalize on synergies created through combinations; manage the integration of personnel and products or services; manage the integration of acquired infrastructure and controls; control potential increases in operating costs; manage geographically remote operations; maintain management’s attention on other business concerns and avoid potential disruptions in ongoing operations during an acquisition process or integration efforts; successfully enter markets and sectors in which we have either limited or no direct experience, including foreign markets whose practices, regulations or laws may pose increased risk; and retain key employees, clients or vendors and other business partners of the acquired companies. We may not successfully integrate acquired businesses or assets and may not achieve anticipated benefits of an acquisition, including expected synergies. For example, we may be unable to fully integrate BureauxLocaux, Business Immo and OnTheMarket with CoStar Group when and as expected.

Current wording

If we are not able to successfully identify, finance, integrate, and/or manage costs related to acquisitions, our business operations and financial position could be adversely affected. We have expanded our markets and services in part through acquisitions of complementary businesses, services, databases, and technologies, and expect to continue to do so in the future. Our acquisition strategy depends on our ability to identify, and the availability of, suitable acquisition candidates. We are likely to incur costs in connection with proposed acquisitions, but may ultimately be unable or unwilling to consummate any particular proposed transaction for various reasons. For example, in 2021, the FTC withheld approval for our proposed acquisition of RentPath, the purchase agreement was subsequently terminated and we incurred a termination fee of $52 million. We are also likely to incur severance costs and other integration costs post acquisition. Costs in connection with acquisitions and integrations may be higher than expected and could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, or prospects of the combined business. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, including risks that we will not be able to realize or capitalize on synergies created through combinations; manage the integration of personnel and products or services; manage the integration of acquired infrastructure and controls; control potential increases in operating costs; manage geographically remote operations; maintain management’s attention on other business concerns and avoid potential disruptions in ongoing operations during an acquisition process or integration efforts; successfully enter markets and sectors in which we have either limited or no direct experience, including foreign markets whose practices, regulations, or laws may pose increased risk; and retain key employees, clients, or vendors, and other business partners of the acquired companies. We may not successfully integrate acquired businesses or assets and may not achieve anticipated benefits of an acquisition, including expected synergies. For example, we may be unable to fully integrate OnTheMarket and Visual Lease with CoStar Group when and as expected.

Previous wording

External factors, such as compliance with laws and regulations and shifting market preferences, may also impact the successful integration of an acquired business. An acquired business could strain our system of internal controls and diminish its effectiveness. Acquisitions could result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt and substantial amortization expenses of other intangible assets. We may be unable to obtain financing on favorable terms, or at all, if necessary to finance future acquisitions, making it impossible or more costly to complete future acquisitions. If we are able to obtain financing, the terms may be onerous and restrict our operations. Further, certain acquisitions may be subject to regulatory approval, which can be time-consuming and costly to obtain or may be denied, as in the case of RentPath. If regulatory approval is obtained, the terms of any such approval may impose limitations on our ongoing operations or require us to divest assets or lines of business. If regulatory approval is denied, we may incur significant, additional costs payable to an acquisition target as a result of failure to close the transaction. For example, we incurred a termination fee of $52 million in connection with termination of the RentPath purchase agreement. Significant break-up fees incurred in the future may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Current wording

External factors, such as compliance with laws and regulations and shifting market preferences, may also impact the successful integration of an acquired business. An acquired business could strain our system of internal controls and diminish its effectiveness. Acquisitions could result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt and substantial amortization expenses of other intangible assets. We may be unable to obtain financing on favorable terms, or at all, if necessary to finance future acquisitions, making it impossible or more costly to complete future acquisitions. If we are able to obtain financing, the terms may be onerous and restrict our operations. Further, certain acquisitions may be subject to regulatory approval, which can be time-consuming and costly to obtain or may be denied. If regulatory approval is obtained, the terms of any such approval may impose limitations on our ongoing operations or require us to divest assets or lines of business. If regulatory approval is denied, we may incur significant, additional costs payable to an acquisition target as a result of failure to close the transaction. Significant break-up fees incurred in the future may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Previous wording

As a result of our acquisitions, we had approximately $2.7 billion of goodwill and intangibles as of December 31, 2023. Future acquisitions may increase this amount. If we are required to recognize goodwill and intangibles impairment charges in the future, this would negatively affect our financial results in the periods of such charges, which may reduce our profitability.

Current wording

As a result of our acquisitions, we had approximately $3.0 billion of goodwill and intangibles as of December 31, 2024. Future acquisitions may increase this amount. If we are required to recognize goodwill and intangibles impairment charges in the future, this would negatively affect our financial results in the periods of such charges, which may reduce our profitability.

Previous wording

Cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities could result in serious harm to our reputation, business and financial condition. Our business relies on IT Systems and involves the generation, collection, storage, processing and transmission of Confidential Information, including personal information and proprietary business information, by us and by third-party providers we rely on. We own and manage IT Systems but also rely on third-party managed IT Systems and a broad array of third-party products and services to support our business operations. An increasing number of organizations, including large merchants, businesses, technology companies and financial institutions, as well as government institutions, have disclosed security incidents, disruptions to, and breaches of their or third-party providers’ IT Systems, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks, including on websites, mobile applications and infrastructure, following a trend of cyberattacks increasing in frequency and magnitude on a global basis.

Current wording

Cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities could result in material harm to our reputation, business, and financial condition. Our business relies on IT Systems and involves the generation, collection, storage, processing, and transmission of Confidential Information, including personal information and proprietary business information, by us and by third-party providers we rely on. We own and manage IT Systems but also rely on third-party managed IT Systems and a broad array of third-party products and services to support our business operations. An increasing number of organizations, including large merchants, businesses, technology companies, and financial institutions, as well as government institutions, have disclosed security incidents, disruptions to, and breaches of their or third-party providers’ IT Systems, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks, including on websites, mobile applications, and infrastructure, following a trend of cyberattacks increasing in frequency and magnitude on a global basis.

Previous wording

Our IT Systems, or those of third parties on which we rely, may be disrupted or damaged and our Confidential Information may be compromised, corrupted, lost or stolen. The tools and techniques (including artificial intelligence) used to obtain unauthorized, improper or illegal access to a target’s systems, data or customers’ data, disable or degrade services, or sabotage systems are constantly evolving and have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. It may be difficult to detect, investigate or remediate such cyber attacks quickly and such attacks often are not recognized or detected until after they have been launched against a target. We expect that unauthorized parties will continue to attempt to gain access to or disrupt our IT systems or facilities through various means, including hacking into IT Systems or facilities or those of our customers or vendors, malware (including ransomware) or attempting to fraudulently induce (for example, through spear phishing attacks or social engineering) our employees, customers, vendors or other users of IT Systems into disclosing access credentials or other sensitive information, which may in turn be used to access our IT Systems.

Current wording

Our IT Systems, or those of third parties on which we rely, may be disrupted or damaged and our Confidential Information may be compromised, corrupted, lost, or stolen. The tools and techniques (including AI) used to obtain unauthorized, improper, or illegal access to a target’s systems, data, or customers’ data, disable or degrade services, or sabotage systems are constantly evolving and have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. It is difficult to detect, investigate, and remediate cyber-attacks quickly and attacks often are not recognized or detected until after they have been launched against a target. We expect that unauthorized parties will continue to attempt to gain access to or disrupt our IT systems or facilities through various means, including hacking into IT Systems or facilities or those of our customers or vendors, installing malware (including ransomware) or attempting to fraudulently induce (for example, through spear phishing attacks or social engineering) our employees, customers, vendors, or other users of IT Systems into disclosing access credentials or other sensitive information to access our IT Systems.

Previous wording

Numerous and evolving cybersecurity threats, including from diverse threat actors, such as state-sponsored organizations, opportunistic hackers and hacktivists, as well as through diverse attack vectors, such as advanced cyberattacks, phishing, social engineering schemes, malware (including ransomware), malfeasance by insiders, human or technological error, and as a result of bugs, misconfigurations or exploited vulnerabilities in software or hardware, could compromise the confidentiality, availability and integrity of Confidential Information and our IT systems. Our efforts to prevent, detect and respond to data security incidents, may not be effective due to attackers increasingly using tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, to avoid detection, and to remove or obfuscate forensic evidence. Further, the security measures and procedures our customers, vendors and other users of our systems have in place to protect IT Systems and Confidential Information may not be successful or sufficient to counter all data breaches, cyberattacks or system failures. There can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls, or procedures, will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting our IT Systems and Confidential Information.

Current wording

Numerous and evolving cybersecurity risks, including from diverse threat actors, such as state-sponsored organizations, opportunistic hackers and hacktivists, as well as through diverse attack vectors, such as advanced cyberattacks, phishing, social engineering schemes, malware (including ransomware), malfeasance by insiders, human or technological error, and as a result of bugs, misconfigurations, or exploited vulnerabilities in software or hardware, could threaten the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of Confidential Information and our IT systems. Efforts by us, our customers, our vendors and other users of our IT Systems to prevent, detect, and respond to data security incidents cannot guarantee protection due to attackers increasingly using tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, to avoid detection, and to remove or obfuscate forensic evidence. There can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls, or procedures, will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting our IT Systems and Confidential Information.

Previous wording

Our IT Systems may be vulnerable to cyberattacks or security breaches, and third parties may be able to access our, our customers’ or our employees’ Confidential Information, including personal or proprietary information, that is stored on or accessible through those systems. We have experienced and expect to continue to experience in the future, cyberattacks as well as breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, system errors or vulnerabilities or other irregularities. In the past, one of our vendors providing IT infrastructure management software was compromised by cyberattacks. We are regularly exposed to vulnerabilities in widely deployed third-party software that we use in the ordinary course of business, such as the Log4J vulnerability. While these vulnerabilities did not have a material adverse effect on our operations, they and similar incidents require us to devote time and resources to monitoring and remediation on a regular basis.

Current wording

Our IT Systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks and security breaches involving our customers’ or our employees’ Confidential Information, including personal or proprietary information, that is stored on or accessible through those systems. We have experienced and expect to continue to experience in the future, cyberattacks as well as breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, system errors or vulnerabilities, or other irregularities. In the past, for example, one of our vendors providing IT infrastructure management software was compromised by cyberattacks. We are also regularly exposed to vulnerabilities in widely deployed third-party software that we use in the ordinary course of business, such as the Log4J vulnerability. Moreover, given the nature of complex software and services like ours, and the scanning tools that we deploy across our networks, infrastructure, and products, we regularly identify and track security vulnerabilities. We are unable to comprehensively apply patches or confirm that measures are in place to mitigate all such vulnerabilities, or that patches will be applied before vulnerabilities are exploited by a threat actor. While these cyberattacks and vulnerabilities have not had a material adverse effect on our operations, they and similar incidents require us to devote time and resources to monitoring and remediation on a regular basis, and there can be no guarantee that future attacks or incidents will not be material.

Previous wording

•Result in our systems or services being unavailable;

Current wording

•Unavailability of our systems or services;

Previous wording

•Result in improper disclosures of data;

Current wording

•Improper disclosures of data;

Previous wording

•Materially harm our reputation and brands;

Current wording

•Harm to our reputation and brands;

Previous wording

•Result in significant regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, legal proceedings and claims (including class action lawsuits) and other legal and financial exposure;

Current wording

•Regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, legal proceedings and claims, (including class action lawsuits), and other legal and financial exposure;

Previous wording

•Cause us to incur significant remediation, system restoration, incident response and compliance costs;

Current wording

•Remediation, system restoration, incident response, and compliance costs;

Previous wording

•Lead to loss of customer confidence in, or decreased use of, our products and services;

Current wording

•Loss of customer confidence in, or decreased use of, our products and services;

Previous wording

•Divert the attention of management from the operation of our business; and

Current wording

•Diversion of the attention of management from the operation of our business; and

Previous wording

•Result in significant contractual penalties or other payments as a result of third-party losses or claims.

Current wording

•Contractual penalties or other payments as a result of third-party losses or claims.

Previous wording

In addition, any cyberattacks or data security breaches affecting companies that we acquire our customers or vendors (including data center and cloud computing providers) could have similar negative effects on our business. Further, we may not be able to recover any or all damages suffered as a result of such security breach or other security incident from such third-party providers. Notwithstanding our efforts, there can be no assurance that vulnerabilities in widely deployed software will not materially harm our business. Any breach of our security measures or the loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of Confidential Information about us or our customers, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information or data, could result in litigation, regulatory enforcement and potential liability for us, damage our brand and reputation or otherwise materially harm our business, financial condition or competitive position.

Current wording

In addition, any cyberattacks or data security breaches affecting companies that we acquire and/or that provide us services (including data center and cloud computing providers) could materially impact our business. Further, we may not be able to recover any or all damages suffered as a result of security breaches or other security incidents from such third-party providers.

Previous wording

Technical problems or disruptions that affect either our customers’ ability to access our services, or the software, internal applications, database and network systems underlying our services, could damage our reputation and lead to reduced demand for our information, analytics and online marketplace services, lower revenues and increased costs. Our business, brands and reputation depend upon the satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our websites, the internet and our service providers. Interruptions in these systems, whether due to system failures, computer viruses, software errors, physical or electronic break-ins, or malicious hacks or attacks on our systems (such as denial of service attacks or use of malware such as ransomware) could affect the security and availability of our services on our mobile applications and our websites and prevent or inhibit users’ access to our services. Our operations also depend on our ability to protect our databases, computers and software, telecommunications equipment and facilities against damage from potential dangers such as fire, flood, power loss, security breaches, computer viruses, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, acts of war, electronic and physical break-ins, computer viruses, earthquakes and similar events.

Current wording

Technical problems or disruptions that affect either our customers’ ability to access our services, or the software, internal applications, database, and network systems underlying our services, could damage our reputation and lead to reduced demand for our online marketplace services, information, and analytics, lower revenues and increase costs. Our business, brands, and reputation depend upon the satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our websites, the internet and our service providers. Interruptions in these systems, whether due to system failures, computer viruses, software errors, physical or electronic break-ins, or malicious hacks or attacks on our systems (such as denial of service attacks or use of malware such as ransomware) could affect the security and availability of our services on our mobile applications and our websites and prevent or inhibit users’ access to our services. Our operations also depend on our ability to protect our databases, computers, and software, telecommunications equipment, and facilities against damage from potential dangers such as fire, flood, power loss, security breaches, computer viruses, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, acts of war, electronic and physical break-ins, computer viruses, earthquakes, and similar events.

Previous wording

In addition, the software, internal applications and systems underlying our services are complex and may not be error-free. We may encounter technical problems when we attempt to enhance our software, internal applications and systems. Our users rely on our services to conduct their own businesses. Disruptions in, technical problems with, or reductions in ability to access our services for any reason could damage our users’ businesses, harm our reputation, result in additional costs or reduce demand for our information, analytics and online marketplace services, any of which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Current wording

In addition, the software, internal applications, and systems underlying our services are complex and may not be error-free. We may encounter technical problems when we attempt to enhance our software, internal applications, and systems. Our users rely on our services to conduct their own businesses. Disruptions in, technical problems with, or reductions in ability to access our services for any reason could damage our users’ businesses, harm our reputation, result in additional costs, or reduce demand for our online marketplace services, information, and analytics, any of which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Previous wording

We depend on processing vendors to process a significant number of credit and debit card transactions and ACH payments, for payments made to us directly for our services, by renters to landlords using our online leasing services, or by real estate agents to purchase our Homes.com services. If we or any one or more of these service providers fail to maintain adequate systems to authorize and process credit card transactions, one or more of the major credit card companies could disallow our continued use of their payment products. If we are unable to maintain our chargeback rate or refund rates at acceptable levels, our processing vendors may increase our transaction fees or terminate their relationships with us. We could lose customers if we are not able to continue to use payment products of the major credit card companies. Further, if we or any one or more of these service providers fail to maintain adequate systems for authorization and processing of credit, debit, ACH or similar payments or if any such service provider were to terminate or modify its relationship with us unexpectedly, our ability to process those customer transactions would be adversely affected, which could decrease sales, discourage customers away from our marketplace services, result in potential legal liability, and harm our business and reputation. In addition, if the systems for the authorization and processing of credit card transactions fail to work properly and, as a result, we do not charge our customers’ credit cards on a timely basis or at all, our business, revenue, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.

Current wording

We are subject to a number of risks related to acceptance of credit cards and debit cards and facilitation of other customer payments. We depend on processing vendors to process a significant number of credit and debit card transactions and ACH payments, for payments made to us directly for our services, by renters to landlords using our online leasing services, or by real estate agents to purchase our Homes.com services. If we or any one or more of these service providers fail to maintain adequate systems to authorize and process credit card transactions, one or more of the major credit card companies could disallow our continued use of their payment products. If we are unable to maintain our chargeback rate or refund rates at acceptable levels, our processing vendors may increase our transaction fees or terminate their relationships with us. We could lose customers if we are not able to continue to use payment products of the major credit card companies. Further, if we or any one or more of these service providers fail to maintain adequate systems for authorization and processing of credit, debit, ACH or similar payments, or if any such service provider were to terminate or modify its relationship with us unexpectedly, our ability to process those customer transactions would be adversely affected, which could decrease sales, discourage customers away from our marketplace services, result in potential legal liability, and harm our business and reputation. In addition, if the systems for the authorization and processing of credit card transactions fail to work properly and, as a result, we do not charge our customers’ credit cards on a timely basis or at all, our business, revenue, results of operations, and financial condition could be harmed.

Previous wording

Climate change and other events beyond our control could harm our business. Natural disasters, disease outbreaks and pandemics, power shortages, terrorism, political unrest, telecommunications failure, vandalism, geopolitical instability, war, climate change, and other events beyond our control could negatively impact our operations or otherwise harm our business. Such events may result in damage or loss of service to our data centers or other infrastructure that our operations rely on, potentially reduce the attractiveness of real estate in areas we provide services, cause delays in product development or availability, or result in losses of critical data, any of which may adversely impact our operations.

Current wording

Climate related events and other events beyond our control could harm our business. Natural disasters, disease outbreaks and pandemics, power shortages, terrorism, political unrest, telecommunications failure, vandalism, geopolitical instability, war, climate related events, and other events beyond our control could negatively impact our operations or otherwise harm our business. Such events may result in damage or loss of service to our data centers or other infrastructure that our operations rely on, potentially reduce the attractiveness of real estate in areas we provide services, cause delays in product development or availability, or result in losses of critical data, any of which may adversely impact our operations.

Previous wording

In addition, the impacts of climate change on the global economy and our industry are rapidly evolving. Physical impacts of climate change (including, but not limited to, floods, droughts, more frequent and/or intense storms, and wildfires) may disrupt our operations, as well as the operations of our suppliers and customers. Longer-term physical impacts may also result in changing consumer preferences, which may adversely impact demand for certain of our products. Transition impacts of climate change may subject us to increased regulations, reporting requirements (such as the SEC’s proposed climate change disclosure rule), standards, or expectations regarding the environmental impacts of our business. Failure to disclose accurate information in a timely manner may also adversely affect our reputation, business, or financial performance.

Current wording

In addition, the impacts of climate-related events on the global economy and our industry are rapidly evolving. Physical impacts of climate related events (including, but not limited to, floods, droughts, more frequent and/or intense storms, and wildfires) may disrupt our operations, as well as the operations of our suppliers and customers. Longer-term physical impacts may also result in changing consumer preferences, which may adversely impact demand for certain of our products. Transition impacts of climate-related events can also subject us to increased regulations, reporting requirements (such as the State of California disclosure rules and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), standards, or expectations regarding the environmental and/or social impacts, risks, and opportunities of our business. Failure to disclose accurate information in a timely manner may also adversely affect our reputation, business, or financial performance.

Previous wording

If we are not able to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive or reliable data, we could experience reduced demand for our information, analytics and online marketplace services. Our success depends on our clients’ confidence in the comprehensiveness, accuracy and reliability of the data and analysis we provide.

Current wording

If we are not able to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive, or reliable data, we could experience reduced demand for our online marketplace services, information, and analytics. Our success depends on our clients’ confidence in the comprehensiveness, accuracy, and reliability of the data and analysis we provide.

Previous wording

If we are unable to enforce or defend our ownership and use of intellectual property, our business, brands, competitive position and operating results could be harmed. The success of our business depends in large part on our intellectual property, including intellectual property involved in our methodologies, databases, services and software. We rely on a combination of trademark, trade secret, patent, copyright and other laws, nondisclosure and noncompetition provisions, license agreements and other contractual provisions and technical measures to protect our intellectual property rights. However, current law may not provide for adequate protection of our databases and the actual data. In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of proprietary rights in internet-related businesses are uncertain and evolving, and changes in these standards may adversely impact the viability or value of our proprietary rights. We find our proprietary content on competitors’ sites. If we are not successful in protecting our intellectual property, including our content, our brands and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed. The same would be true if a court found that our services infringe other persons’ intellectual property rights. Any intellectual property lawsuits or threatened lawsuits in which we are involved, either as a plaintiff or as a defendant, have cost us and could continue to cost us a significant amount of time and money and distract management’s attention from operating our business. In addition, if we do not prevail on an intellectual property claim, this could result in a change to our methodology or information, analytics and online marketplace services and could reduce our profitability.

Current wording

If we are unable to enforce or defend our ownership and use of intellectual property, our business, brands, competitive position, and operating results could be harmed. The success of our business depends in large part on our intellectual property, including intellectual property involved in our methodologies, databases, services, and software. We rely on a combination of trademark, trade secret, patent, copyright, and other laws, nondisclosure and noncompetition provisions, license agreements, and other contractual provisions and technical measures to protect our intellectual property rights. However, current law may not provide for adequate protection of our databases and the actual data. In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of proprietary rights in internet-related businesses are uncertain and evolving, and changes in these standards may adversely impact the viability or value of our proprietary rights. We find our proprietary content on competitors’ sites. If we are not successful in protecting our intellectual property, including our content, our brands and our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be harmed. The same would be true if a court found that our services infringe other persons’ intellectual property rights. Any intellectual property lawsuits or threatened lawsuits in which we are involved, either as a plaintiff or as a defendant, have cost us and could continue to cost us a significant amount of time and money and distract management’s attention from operating our business. In addition, if we do not prevail on an intellectual property claim, this could result in a change to our methodology or online marketplace services, information, and analytics, and could reduce our profitability.

Previous wording

We may not be able to successfully halt the operation of websites that aggregate our data, as well as data from other companies, or "copycat" websites that may misappropriate our data. We have expended significant resources to develop proprietary content and any misappropriation of our data could reduce that value of that content or our return on investment related to that content, which could harm our competitive position and results of operations. Third parties may misappropriate our data through website scraping, robots or other means and aggregate and display this data on their websites. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful and sophisticated, and third parties may utilize artificial intelligence to misappropriate our data more quickly and at a larger scale than in the past. In addition, “copycat” websites may misappropriate data on our website and attempt to imitate our brands or the functionality of our website. We may not be able to detect all such websites in a timely manner and, even if we could, technological and legal measures available to us may be insufficient to stop their operations and the misappropriation of our data. Any measures that we may take to enforce our rights could require us to expend significant financial or other resources.

Current wording

Use of new and evolving technologies, including AI, could impact our ability to protect our data and intellectual property from misappropriation by third parties. We have expended significant resources to develop proprietary content and any misappropriation of our data could reduce the value of that content or our return on investment related to that content, which could harm our competitive position and results of operations. Third parties may misappropriate our data through website scraping, robots, or other means, and aggregate and display this data on their websites. In addition, “copycat” websites may misappropriate data on our website and attempt to imitate our brands or the functionality of our website. We may not be able to detect all such websites in a timely manner and, even if we could, technological and legal measures available to us may be insufficient to stop their operations and the misappropriation of our data. Any measures that we may take to enforce our rights could require us to expend significant financial or other resources. AI is becoming increasingly powerful and sophisticated, and third parties (including our competitors) and “copycat” websites may utilize AI to misappropriate our data more quickly and at a larger scale than in the past. Use of AI also increases the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches, which can occur more quickly and evolve more rapidly when AI is used. Further, the use of AI, whether by us or by third parties, may increase the risk that our data, intellectual property or confidential information will be inadvertently disclosed, which may result in reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liability and adversely affect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Previous wording

We may be subject to legal liability for collecting, displaying or distributing information. Because the content in our database is collected from various sources and distributed to others, we may be subject to claims for breach of contract, defamation, negligence, unfair competition or copyright or trademark infringement or claims based on other theories, such as breach of laws related to privacy and data protection. We could also be subject to claims based upon the content that is accessible from our website through links to other websites or information on our website supplied by third parties. Even if these claims do not result in liability to us, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending against any claims, and we could be subject to public notice requirements that may affect our reputation. Our potential liability for information distributed by us to others could require us to implement measures to reduce our exposure to such liability, which may require us to expend substantial resources and limit the attractiveness of our information, analytics and online marketplaces to users. These risks may be exacerbated from impacts, or perceived impacts, of emerging technologies (including, but not limited to, machine learning) on human rights, privacy, or other social considerations, which may result in reputational harm, compliance costs for any new rules or interpretations, or other adverse impacts on our operations and financial performance.

Current wording

We may be subject to legal liability for collecting, displaying, or distributing information. Because the content in our database is collected from various sources and distributed to others, we may be subject to claims for breach of contract, defamation, negligence, unfair competition, or copyright or trademark infringement or claims based on other theories, such as breach of laws related to privacy and data protection. We could also be subject to claims based upon the content that is accessible from our website through links to other websites or information on our website supplied by third parties. Even if these claims do not result in liability to us, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending against any claims, and we could be subject to public notice requirements that may affect our reputation. Our potential liability for information distributed by us to others could require us to implement measures to reduce our exposure to such liability, which may require us to expend substantial resources and limit the attractiveness of our online marketplaces, information, and analytics to users. These risks may be exacerbated from impacts, or perceived impacts, of emerging technologies (including, but not limited to, machine learning) on human rights, privacy, or other social considerations, which may result in reputational harm, compliance costs for any new rules or interpretations, or other adverse impacts on our operations and financial performance.