Business Glossary

A comprehensive reference of business and marketing terminology used across realtor.com's marketing operations, analytics, and product teams.

Core Business Concepts

Two-Sided Marketplace

Our business model serves two distinct customer groups:

• Consumers: Individuals interested in buying, selling, or renting a home or acquiring/refinancing a mortgage.
• Clients: Real estate agents, brokerages, and Realtors who use our service to connect with Consumers (formerly known as Customers).
• The Connection: Revenue is generated by successfully connecting motivated Consumers with Clients through closed deals.

Seasonal Trends

Predictable performance fluctuations throughout the year:

• Slower Periods: Winter months and major holidays typically see reduced activity
• Peak Seasons: Spring and summer are busiest times for buying, selling, and moving

Macroeconomic Trends

Broader economic conditions that impact real estate activity:

• Key Indicators: Mortgage interest rates, consumer confidence, economic uncertainty
• Impact: These factors significantly affect decisions to move

Competitive Activity

Market dynamics that affect lead generation:

• Market Share: Competition for a finite pool of potential consumers
• Impact: Competitive spend can affect costs and lead volume

RDC Products

Monetization Types

Subscription

Upfront payment model where customers pay a fixed amount for a set period

Referral

Performance-based model where customers pay a referral fee when a transaction closes

Core Buy

Market VIP, Connections Plus, Ready Connect Concierge. Sometimes includes new home construction - so best to clarify/specify

Market VIP (MVIP)

Type: Subscription-based Lead Generation (Buyer Leads)

• Premium product targeting large brokerages and agent teams
• Customers purchase exclusive leads for a promised time window by buying a guaranteed Share of Voice (SOV) in specific markets
• Zip-based product sold in increments of 20% SOV (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%)
• Live-transfer leads delivered directly to brokers/agents
• Product codes: MARKETVIP (legacy), MARKETVIPPACKAGE
• Operates in "Pure" and "Unity" markets
• Higher priority in product hierarchy: VU > MVIP > C+ > MRC > RCC

Connections Plus (C+, Cplus, C Plus)

Type: Subscription-based Lead Generation (Buyer Leads)

• Customers purchase an allotment of leads (slots)
• Core sellable unit is a "slot" (up to 40 leads per slot)
• Agents can purchase slots in specific zip codes or markets
• Customers pay upfront before receiving leads
• Leads sent directly to agents (not live-transferred)

Ready Connect Concierge (RCC, Referral)

Type: Referral-based Lead Generation (Buyer Leads)

• Free lead assignment with referral fee paid upon successful transaction close
• CSRs (Consumer Success Representatives) live-transfer leads directly to agents
• Agents pay 30-40% referral fee standard when transaction closes
• No upfront costs for agents

Sales Builder (New Construction, New Con, New Homes)

Type: Cost-Per-Lead for New Home Builders

• Allows builders to control sales process and receive leads directly from their listings
• Performance-based billing with costs capped per community (typically 3 leads per month cap)
• Builder-direct new construction product
• Leads sent to builders via API, email, or both

Veterans United

Type: Cost-Per-Lead for sale

• VU receives exclusive access to veteran leads across both buyer and seller intent
• Consumers self-identify as veterans via checkbox on lead forms
• Available across multiple surfaces: Seller RFP, PDP, My Home, Seller's Marketplace, UpNest, Mason forms
• Veterans United Realty provides specialized service for veterans (expertise in VA loans, navigating veteran-specific paperwork)
• Serves both buy and sell intent

Sell (RealChoice Selling, RealPro Select Seller Leads, UpNest)

Type: Seller Referral and Subscription Share of Voice Product

• Agents compete by submitting proposals to sellers
• Referral-based model: agents pay referral fee (typically 30-40%) only when the transaction closes. Revenue model: Agent share × Referral fee × Home value × Sale probability
• Subscription Share of Voice model: RealPro Select Seller Leads (Listing Tool Kit for Teams, aka LTK Teams)
• Subscription Platform fee model: Listing Tool Kit for Agents, or LTKA
• Serves both buy and sell intent leads

Rentals (Zillow, For Rent)

Type: Cost-Per-Lead (Zillow partnership) + ILS partnerships

• Zillow integration: $8 per lead (CPL) with a monthly cap of 14 leads per listing ($112 max/month)
• ~10% of rental inventory is monetized (Zillow + paid ILS partners)
• ~40% from free ILS/syndicator partners
• ~50% from other sources
• Includes multifamily and single-family rental listings

Lender (Mortgage, MRC)

Type: Lead Generation for Mortgage Lenders

• MRC (Mortgage Research Center): Third-party partner operating lender products
• Lender Choice Experience (LCE): Consumers choose from up to 3 lenders
• Products include:
  • Mortgage leads (55-60% of revenue)
  • Prequal revenue (~40%)
  • Rates revenue (~5%)
• Previously "ReadyConnect Mortgage" (RCM) - now migrated to MRC platform
• Consumers submit via questionnaire and are matched with lenders
• Part of product hierarchy: VU > MVIP > C+ > MRC > RCC

Media

Type: Advertising Revenue

• Generates >15% of Realtor.com's total revenue (~$90M in FY23)
• Includes:
  • Display/banner advertising from digital platforms (Google, Facebook, Amazon)
  • Custom sponsored content and partnerships
  • Programmatic advertising (DSP platforms)
  • Brand media placements
• Products include: Market Reach (MRE), Audience Extension (AUDIENCEEXT)
• Sold to Fortune 500 advertisers (mortgage banks, insurance, retailers)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Spend

Definition: Total monetary amount invested in advertising campaigns across all paid channels.
Usage: The cost incurred to generate traffic and leads.
Aliases: Advertising Spend, Ad Spend, Marketing Cost

Lead

Definition: A unique event where a consumer submits their personally identifiable information (PII) to buy, sell, or rent a home or to acquire or refinance a mortgage.

• Unique Lead Submitter (ULS) (alias: lead): A unique consumer who has submitted at least one lead
• Lead Submission (alias: inquiry, lead): A unique event where a consumer shares their personally identifiable information (PII) via an online form or over the phone to express interest in buying, selling, or renting a home or acquiring or refinancing a mortgage. A single unique user can submit more than one lead on different listings or for different lines of business (buy, sell, rent)
• Lead Delivery (alias: lead): A unique event where a Lead is delivered via RDC's lead routing systems (ALA/GLA) to a client contract to fulfill an RDC client contract. A lead can be delivered to more than one client contract in some cases

Context: Each lead represents a potential transaction opportunity.

EFR (Expected Future Revenue)

Definition: The expected revenue generated by a lead submission.
Aliases: Expected Future Revenue, Universal Estimated Future Revenue
Note: A standardized, lead-level framework that estimates the future revenue value of consumer leads across all business lines/product types. It provides a single, comparable metric that aggregates multiple revenue streams so teams can consistently understand potential business value. For detailed EFR methodology and modeling, refer to the EFR knowledge base (in development).

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Definition: Key performance indicator measuring campaign profitability.
Formula: ROAS = EFR / Spend
Interpretation:

• ROAS > 1: Campaigns generate more revenue than they cost
• ROAS = 1: Campaigns break even
• ROAS < 1: Campaigns lose money Note: Always calculate ROAS using EFR before using other revenue columns

RPL (Revenue Per Lead)

Definition: Average expected future revenue generated per lead.
Formula: RPL = Sum(EFR) / Sum(LEADS)
Usage: Measure of lead value

CPL (Cost Per Lead)

Definition: Average cost incurred to acquire each lead.
Formula: CPL = Sum(Spend) / Sum(LEADS)
Usage: Measure of cost efficiency in lead acquisition
Best Practice: Use NULLIF to prevent division by zero

CPC (Cost Per Click)

Definition: Average cost incurred for each click on an ad.
Formula: CPC = Sum(Spend) / Sum(Clicks)
Usage: Measure of cost efficiency in driving traffic

LSR (Lead Submission Rate)

Definition: Rate at which users convert into leads.
Formula: LSR = Sum(Leads) / Sum(UUs)
Usage: Measure of conversion from user to lead
Also Known As: lead conversion rate

Listing Price

Definition: listing price of a property

• LISTING_PRICE_CURRENT, when the relevant comparison is for the current distribution of listing prices.
• LEAD_LISTING_PRICE, when comparing lead-level stats and lead behavior.
• LAST_SOLD_PRICE, when looking at PDP's or not active listings.

UU (Unique Users)

Definition: A Unique User (UU) is a distinct consumer visiting RDC within a reporting period, deduplicated by an identity key used in our analytics pipeline.

• Unadjusted UU: distinct visitors based on the Adobe/Omniture-generated visitor ID (vendor cookie-level identity).
• Adjusted UU: distinct visitors based on RDC's cross-platform identity, the ADJUSTED_UU_ID (RDC-generated cookie/user key that unifies web, mWeb, and app).

Conversion Rate

Definition: Percentage of users who complete a desired action.
Common Types:

• Session to Lead: Overall conversion rate
• SRP to PDP: Search results page to property detail page
• SRP to LDP: Search results page to listing detail page
• PDP to Lead: Property detail page to lead submission

Channel Attribution & Sources

Paid Search

Definition: Google Ads, Bing Ads, and other paid search advertising.
Quality Note: Consistently delivers leads with 30-37% lower median list prices than other channels (expected behavior)

Organic Search

Definition: Unpaid search traffic from search engines.
Strategy: SEO-driven traffic acquisition

Direct

Definition: Direct URL entry or bookmarked traffic.
Context: Indicates brand strength and return visitors

Referral

Definition: Traffic from other websites.
Strategy: Partnership and content distribution channels

Social

Definition: Traffic from social media platforms.
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

Last-Touch Attribution (Default)

Definition: The most recent marketing touchpoint before lead submission gets credit.
Usage: Standard attribution model unless specified otherwise

Geographic & Market Terms

DMA (Designated Market Area)

Definition: TV market regions used for geographic analysis.
Usage: Primary geographic segmentation for marketing

Market Tiers

Definition: Prioritization framework for geographic markets:

• Tier 1: Top 20 DMAs by listing inventory, >1000 active listings
• Tier 2: 21-50 DMAs, 250-1000 active listings
• Tier 3: 51+ DMAs, <250 active listings

Data & Analytics Terms

Price Segments

Definition: Categorization of properties by list price. Used for calculating client value and close estimation.

• $1M

• $500K–$1M
• $300K–$500K
• $150K–$300K
• $100K–$150K
• $60K–$100K
• <$60K

SRP (Search Results Page)

Definition: Page displaying property search results.

PDP (Property Detail Page)

Definition: Individual property detail page. This is for properties not currently for sale.

LDP (Listing Detail Page)

Definition: Individual property listing page. This is for properties currently for sale.

CPI (Cost Per Install)

Definition: Cost to acquire a mobile app installation.

Analytical & Reporting Terms

Date Range Abbreviations

• L7D: Last 7 days
• L30D: Last 30 days
• MTD: Month to date
• QTD: Quarter to date
• YTD: Year to date
• YoY: Year over year
• QoQ: Quarter over quarter
• WoW: Week over Week

Usage Guidelines

This glossary should be referenced when:

• Writing analyses: Ensure consistent terminology
• Creating documentation: Standardize language
• Resolving ambiguity: Clarify which metric is being discussed

Updating This Glossary

Add new terms when:

• New KPIs are introduced
• Campaign strategies change
• Business model evolves
• Common confusion arises around terminology
• Cross-functional communication reveals gaps

To update: Modify this SKILL.md file and repackage the skill.