Richmond-based Homes.com now country's second-largest residential real estate portal
CoStar Group Inc. CEO Andy Florance said Tuesday on the company's first-quarter earnings call that its Richmond-based Homes.com unit has grown to become the second-largest residential real estate sales portal in the U.S.
Florance said Homes.com recorded 104 million monthly unique visitors in the quarter. He credited a successful media campaign for increasing awareness, including ads with celebrities Dan Levy, Heidi Gardner, Morgan Freeman, Lil Wayne and Jeff Goldblum that aired during major sports and awards broadcasts. Florance had previously estimated the campaign cost more than $1 billion.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
States sue to block the sale of genetic data collected by DNA testing company 23andMe
Dozens of states have filed a joint lawsuit against the bankrupt DNA-testing company 23andMe to block the company's sale of its customers' genetic data without explicit consent. The suit, filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, comes months after 23andMe began a court-supervised sale process of its assets. The South San Francisco-based venture was once valued at $6 billion and has collected DNA samples from more than 15 million customers. The company's bankruptcy has raised questions over privacy standards for genetic data, which experts say is uniquely sensitive, immutable and irreplaceable if stolen. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia filed the lawsuit, arguing that 23andMe customers have an inherent right to their own genetic information. Read more: 'People should be worried': 23andMe bankruptcy could expose customers' genetic data 'This isn't just data — it's your DNA," said Oregon Atty. Gen. Dan Rayfield in a statement. "It's personal, permanent, and deeply private. People did not submit their personal data to 23andMe thinking their genetic blueprint would later be sold off to the highest bidder." 23andMe announced in May that it would be sold to New York-based drug maker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which had agreed to comply with 23andMe's existing privacy policy. However, a competing offer from nonprofit TTAM Research Institute led the bankruptcy judge to reopen the auction last week. TTAM is run by 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki, who has made several failed attempts to take the company private. In a statement, a 23andMe spokesperson said the lawsuit's claims "are without merit" and that the sale of genetic data does not violate privacy regulations. 'Customers will continue to have the same rights and protections in the hands of the winning bidder," the spokesperson said. Read more: Congressmen sound alarm over data privacy following 23andMe bankruptcy 23andMe customers have the right to delete their genetic information from the company's database at any time, as outlined in the Genetic Information Privacy Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act. During a testimony in Washington earlier this week, 23andMe interim Chief Executive Joseph Selsavage said that 1.9 million customers have requested their data be deleted since the company's bankruptcy filing in March. Sara Geoghegan, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that 23andMe's privacy policy was subject to change and not adequate to protect customers' data. In an interview in March, she stressed the sensitivity of genetic data. 'I would be very concerned if I had given a swab to 23andMe," she said. "There is little we can do to control what happens to it." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend
'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend originally appeared on Parade. Just in time for Father's Day, is sharing a 'proud dad' moment. The 'Achy Breaky Heart' singer took to Instagram on June 8 to celebrate a landmark performance by his daughter with country music legend . 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Along with a video of the performance, Billy Ray commented in the caption, 'O. M. G. !!! 😭🎤💥 Is it okay if a proud dad brags a little? CONGRATULATIONS @noahcyrus & @wynonnajudd — you rocked CMA Fest last night! What a powerful performance... Open up the door. When Love starts knocking !!!!! ❤️." Along with Billy Ray's post came a slew of comments, including some from fellow celebrities and one from Judd herself. 'I love your girl!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥹,' Wynonna wrote. '@wynonnajudd and i love you Miss Wynona 🖤🖤🖤,' Noah Cyrus responded. Billy Ray's new girlfriend, , weighed in by sharing, '❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.' '@wynonnajudd I'm loving all this love and kindness on top of this beautiful talent 💓 so refreshing and beautiful ❤️ Wynonna you're such a gorgeous singer! I'm in awe! Stay blessed 🙏😇❤️,' wrote one fan. 'I love this Performance so much! ❤️🔥,' wrote a German-based Noah Cyrus fan account. 'Wowza! What an amazing performance. I really enjoyed watching it.❤️🙌 🔥👏,' another fan commented. '😍😍😍 Noah is becoming more gorgeous as she ages. Absolutely stunning! ❤️,' yet another fan Cyrus, 25, is the daughter of Billy Ray and . Although she's not quite as well known as her older sister Miley Cyrus, she's also appeared on TV and has been making music since she was a child. Her latest album, The Hardest Part, was released in 2022. Since then, she released the single 'How Far Will We Take It?' a duet with country star . She's also featured on and co-wrote the single 'My Fault' with included on his hit album Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going. 'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend first appeared on Parade on Jun 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Boston Globe
32 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
MassDOT taps Irish firm Applegreen to redevelop 18 highway service plazas
Applegreen would completely replace buildings at nine of the 18 service plazas, and make significant retrofits to the others. In total, Applegreen has pledged to make $750 million in capital improvements over the life of the contract. The company also would share a portion of the revenue it earns at these plazas with the state, totaling at least $28.4 million a year on average over the contract term — or nearly $1 billion that would go to the state over time. MassDOT chief development officer Scott Bosworth told the board members that Applegreen would also improve traffic flow at many of the rest stops. One goal is to reduce conflicts between truckers and car drivers as part of reconfigurations that will add nearly 500 new spaces across the rest areas, a 24 percent increase. Advertisement 'They have demonstrated real-world experience in turning over these facilities, and state-of-the-art revitalization programs,' Bosworth said of Applegreen. 'We feel we've got a strong partner, we're excited about this partnership [and] we're on the cusp of beginning a new day for our service plazas in Massachusetts.' Advertisement The contract, which has a 10-year extension option, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026 for 14 of the 18 service areas: the 11 on the turnpike, plus rest areas in Lexington, Newton, and Plymouth; Applegreen is slated to replace McDonald's as the food concessionaire and Gulf for the fuel. The contract for the other four plazas — currently operated by Waltham-based petroleum supplier Global Partners in Bridgewater, Barnstable, and Beverly — will switch over on June 30, 2027. There isn't much time to make the transition, with leases expiring in six months on most of the plazas. Applegreen was picked in part because of its readiness to get started with the extensive permitting and construction work necessary. Its team includes general contractor Suffolk Construction and designers at Upland Architects. Active in the US since 2014, Applegreen has been expanding in this country lately, fueled in large part by Blackstone after the private equity firm acquired a controlling stake in 2021. Applegreen is wrapping up a 27-area redevelopment in New York; Bosworth said the Applegreen team that's leading the New York project will move over to Massachusetts. An Applegreen spokesperson offered a brief statement when asked about the committee's vote on Wednesday: 'We're proud of our proposal, and hope to have the opportunity to work with the state and MassDOT to improve the travel experiences of drivers across Massachusetts.' MassDOT's procurement process has been shrouded in secrecy until now — a fact that irked Quincy Mayor Tom Koch, a MassDOT board member. 'I'm disappointed I didn't have more information ahead of time,' Koch said. 'This is a big vote. I just think we're just kind of glossing over ... a major vote of this board.' Advertisement Bosworth told Koch that he would have preferred to share more information but was advised by MassDOT legal counsel to limit the public information on the process while the procurement was still ongoing. At Wednesday's meeting, Bosworth disclosed that six companies had made initial bids for the service-plaza contract last fall: Love's Travel Stops, 7-Eleven, Applegreen, Gulf owner RaceTrac, Global, and fuel distributor Energy North. Among other things, MassDOT's original bidding documents called for Applegreen has promised to keep operating bathroom and gas services at the rest areas while they are under construction, Bosworth said, and to not shut down two consecutive plaza buildings along the turnpike at the same time. Susan Snyder, a top lawyer at MassDOT, told the planning committee that the state faces a big financial risk if a new operator isn't chosen soon. Six months, she said, is the minimum amount of time necessary to transition to a new rest stop operator, and MassDOT wouldn't have much leverage if negotiations were needed to extend the leases beyond Jan. 1. 'There's just a ton of work that has to be done,' Bosworth said. 'Having said that, we have selected an operator that has proven they can do it under the gun.' Advertisement Jon Chesto can be reached at
