CoStar (a real estate data-mining platform), has grown tremendously over the past decade.

In the past 10 years, CoStar has acquired more than $1billion worth of real estate-related data companies. Most notably, it purchased Loopnet.com (a popular commercial-listings site) for $860 million back in 2012.

Costar's market value is projected to be at more than $7 billion, which is more than 100 times its estimated net income in 2015. For full access to a CoStar account, the annual cost borders $70,000.

However, it's been criticized for its 'bullish' operations toward competitors.

“Everyone is scared shitless of them,” said one source, who declined to speak on the record, citing fear of reprisal

By acquiring the majority of data platforms, CoStar has made itself the elite outlet for brokers, property owners, and banks. Competitors have a difficult time amassing data, and CoStar has been quick to file several lawsuits on rivals for copyright infringement.

“For me, it’s less about competing head-to-head, than to say, ‘What are different aspects of the work flow that are not being served by CoStar?’" - Eric Frank, DMGI’s head of U.S. real estate products.

CoStar was the first of its kind to leverage technology in creating these data platforms, which has enabled it to gain such elite status.

The question, as Mr. Frank mentions in the aforementioned quote, is which untapped areas can competitors penetrate before CoStar?