The Canadian Real Estate Association, with the help of its American counterpart, won the rights to the .MLS top-level domain.
“This win is a great example of how CREA and [the National Association of Realtors] are working together for the benefit of our members,” said CREA president, Beth Crosbie. “MLS systems are widely recognized by consumers as a go-to resource when they want to buy or sell real estate. Owning the .MLS domain protects the integrity of what the MLS trademark signifies to Realtors, consumers and real estate boards and associations.”
CREA worked closely with the MLS Domains Association, an American non-profit group comprising 55 MLS services in the States, to secure the new domain.
The successful bid for .MLS isn’t CREA’s first time domain win this year. In October, the Canadian association released 10,000 of its new .realtor domains for free. Those, too, were won in a joint bid with NAR.
CREA members quickly snatched up those free domains, as agents found great worth in the Realtor distinction.
“I thought it would help to promote myself as a Realtor,” says Krista Petersen, an agent in Port Coquitlam, B.C. “I do think it adds credibility. Before I had just my name .ca; it doesn’t say I’m a Realtor. But with the .realtor domain, that’s clear.”
Analysts suggest its growing use could better draw a distinction between Realtors and duly-qualified agents opting to forgo additional certification. Currently, the public struggles to articulate any difference at all.
While CREA acts as NAR’s exclusive marketing partner, it is in fact NAR that administers the domain to Canadian Realtors.
