CarsDirect Acquires Premier Website Properties from Online Mortgage Pioneer Myers Internet Inc.LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- Addition of BestRate.com, LoanApp.com and Myers Mortgage Lead Technology Platform Dramatically Increase CarsDirect's Footprint The amount of geographic space covered by an object. A computer footprint is the desk or floor surface it occupies. A satellite's footprint is the earth area covered by its downlink. See form factor. 1. in Billion Dollar Online Mortgage Category CarsDirect today announced it has acquired premier mortgage website properties from Myers Internet Inc., a pioneer in the online mortgage technology space. As part of the agreement, CarsDirect acquires Myers' advanced mortgage lead technology platform and its well-known and award-winning consumer brands BestRate.com and LoanApp.com. The acquisitions will accelerate the growth of CarsDirect's mortgage business and complement its current consumer-facing mortgage websites -- LoanStore.com and CheckInterestRates.com. CarsDirect now operates six premier consumer destination sites in the automotive and home financing categories: CarsDirect.com, Autos.com, LoanStore.com, CheckInterestRates.com, LoanApp.com and BestRate.com. "By expanding the company's footprint in the online mortgage category, CarsDirect is once again extending its core competency A core competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions specified by Hamel and Prahalad (1990):
"Myers pioneered the online mortgage space. Our founders originated the first online mortgage in 1992 and created the first online loan application in 1994," said Warren Myer, CEO of Myers Internet, Inc. "We've been very impressed im·press 1 tr.v. im·pressed, im·press·ing, im·press·es 1. To affect strongly, often favorably: with the CarsDirect vision and management team and believe that they are the right company to take our well-known consumer brands BestRate.com and LoanApp.com to the next level. For the past 10 years we have been the clear market leader in the mortgage Web hosting Making a Web site available on the Internet. Many ISPs host a few personal Web pages for an individual at no additional cost above the monthly service fee, but the address is subordinate to the ISP; for example, www.friendlyisp.com/pat_smith. business and we will now focus on our core Web hosting business for the mortgage and real estate categories." Technology Leadership Applied to Multiple Product Categories The acquisition of Myers' mortgage properties is the latest example of CarsDirect applying its ecommerce and technology expertise to high value, complex consumer transactions on the Web. Since its inception, CarsDirect has methodically me·thod·i·cal also me·thod·ic adj. 1. Arranged or proceeding in regular, systematic order. 2. Characterized by ordered and systematic habits or behavior. See Synonyms at orderly. applied its ecommerce expertise to sequential product line extensions Product line Extensions and Patient safety In a world of product line extensions, there are many different products with similar names. Examples of these include oxycodone versus oxycontin (oycodone CR), buproprion vs buprion SR vs bruproprion XL, codeine versus codeine contin in first the auto and now the mortgage categories. By optimizing every click on the front end of the transaction and fulfillment ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. on the back end, CarsDirect has created a sophisticated and efficient ecommerce platform. This flexible ecommerce platform is the underpinning un·der·pin·ning n. 1. Material or masonry used to support a structure, such as a wall. 2. A support or foundation. Often used in the plural. 3. Informal The human legs. Often used in the plural. of the company's strong consumer brands and is extensible to multiple vertical ecommerce markets. CarsDirect has been able to launch 10 successful and profitable product line extensions in five years -- each accelerating the company's growth. Consumer Mortgage Website Properties With the addition of LoanApp.com and BestRate.com, visitors to CarsDirect operated mortgage sites have even more choice in the early stages of the home buying and financing process. All four of CarsDirect's mortgage sites offer consumers objectivity and a new way to streamline and simplify the mortgage research and shopping process. For instance, consumers can browse (1) To view the contents of a file or a group of files. Browser programs generally let you view data by scrolling through the documents or databases. In a database program, the browse mode often lets you edit the data. See Web browser. CheckInterestRates.com and BestRate.com to determine who has the best rates -- whether it is a large bank or regional mortgage broker. Once they've completed their research, consumers can choose to fund their loan through LoanStore.com or be referred to lenders and brokers in BestRate.com's or LoanApp.com's nationwide network. About CarsDirect Los LOS Length of stay, see there Angeles-based CarsDirect is a leading operator of a growing portfolio of Internet media and ecommerce sites for "large ticket" consumer categories. Through the company's two automotive websites, CarsDirect.com and Autos.com, the company offers product and pricing information, new and pre-owned automobiles and related products and services. The CarsDirect.com website has been named one of the "50 Best Websites" by Time Magazine, chosen a "Forbes Favorite" three times by Forbes Magazine and selected as a "Top 100 Internet Site" for three consecutive years in PC Magazine. In recent months, CarsDirect has added to its rapidly growing portfolio of consumer services Consumer Services refers to the formulation, deformulation, technical consulting and testing of most consumer products, such as food, herbs, beverages, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, hair products, household cleaners, [paints, plastics, metals, waxes, coatings, minerals, designed to take the hassle Hassle () is a location in Närke, Sweden, where a Celtic treasure was found in 1936. It comprises a large bronze cauldron which contained two Bronze Age swords of the Hallstatt type, a pommel of bronze, two bronze buckets with out of high-value, complex consumer transactions on the Web. In Fall 2004, the company extended its award-winning service and technology expertise to the home mortgage lending market with the launch of CheckInterestRates.com and LoanStore.com, providing constantly updated loan rates from hundreds of lenders, easy-to-digest consumer information about mortgage terms and loan types, and access to a full-service brokerage. In January 2005, CarsDirect acquired the well-known and award-winning consumer brands BestRate.com and LoanApp.com from Myers Internet Inc., the leading provider of website and backoffice technology to the mortgage and real estate industries. About Myers Internet, Inc. Myers Internet, Inc. is the leading provider of website and backoffice technology to the mortgage and real estate industries. Myers has been ranked as one of the top 50 fastest growing companies for the past two years by the San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. Silicon Valley Business Journal. Using Myers' proprietary web building technology, originators and real estate agents can build a state-of-the-art customized web site in minutes. Myers' OriginatorNetwork enables originators to customize their website, manage their leads, shop wholesale rates and order settlement services -- resulting in faster processing and reduced costs. Myers' AgentCenter enables real estate agents to customize their web sites, post listings and manage their leads. For more information, visit www.myers.com. |
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