DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Details 11) (LendingTree Loans, USD $)		9 Months Ended					3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 Discover	Sep. 30, 2012 Discontinued operations item	Sep. 30, 2012 Discontinued operations Buyer one	Dec. 31, 2011 Discontinued operations Buyer one	Sep. 30, 2012 Discontinued operations Buyer two	Dec. 31, 2011 Discontinued operations Buyer two	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations item	Sep. 30, 2011 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations	Dec. 31, 2009 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations item segment	Sep. 30, 2011 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations	Jun. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Buyer three	Dec. 31, 2009 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Buyer one	Jan. 31, 2010 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Buyer two	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Buyer two item	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Buyer two	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations Nine months ended September 30, 2012 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2011 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2010 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2009 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2008 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2007 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2006 item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Discontinued operations 2005 and prior years item
Loan Loss Obligations
Number of investors to whom loans are guaranteed		2
Original principal amount of loans related to indemnification			$ 1,800,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000	$ 279,600,000	$ 32,400,000	$ 70,900,000			$ 70,900,000
Number of loan segments used to estimate loan loss obligation										4
Number of loans sold							235,900			235,900								9,200	12,500	12,400	12,800	11,000	36,300	55,000	86,700
Original principal balance							39,400,000,000			39,400,000,000								1,900,000,000	2,700,000,000	2,800,000,000	2,800,000,000	2,200,000,000	6,100,000,000	7,900,000,000	13,000,000,000
Number of loans with losses							498			498									1	4	4	33	160	207	89
Original principal balance of loans with losses							68,100,000			68,100,000									300,000	1,100,000	900,000	6,900,000	22,100,000	24,500,000	12,300,000
Amount of aggregate losses							29,100,000			29,100,000									100,000	100,000	100,000	2,200,000	8,200,000	13,400,000	5,000,000
Number of loan repurchase requests and indemnifications considered in determining the appropriate reserve amount							365			365
Percentage of full documentation first liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification							70.00%			70.00%
Percentage of full documentation second liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification							2.00%			2.00%
Percentage of limited documentation first liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification							24.00%			24.00%
Percentage of limited documentation second liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification							4.00%			4.00%
Number of buyers of previously purchased limited documentation loans with whom settlement negotiations are entered									2
Payment for settlement with buyers of previously purchased loans													3,300,000	1,900,000	4,500,000
Total settlement value																4,800,000
Additional amount of settlement payable to buyers of previously purchased loans is up to this amount												1,200,000					300,000
Number of quarterly installment payments																4
Number of settlements										3
Activity related to loss reserves on previously sold loans
Balance, beginning of period							33,096,000	24,317,000		31,512,000	16,984,000
Provisions (recoveries)							(6,493,000)	3,488,000		(109,000)	11,050,000
Charge offs to reserves							(14,000)	(785,000)		(4,814,000)	(1,014,000)
Balance, end of period							26,589,000	27,020,000		26,589,000	27,020,000
Portion of the initial purchase price payment held in escrow for certain actual and/or contingent liabilities	17,100,000
Reduction to loss reserve on previously sold loans							6,500,000			6,500,000
Weighted percentage for estimation of range of remaining loan losses in revised analysis										50.00%
Weighted percentage for estimation of range of remaining loan losses on other factor										25.00%
Estimated range of remaining possible losses due to loan losses, minimum							18,000,000			18,000,000
Estimated range of remaining possible losses due to loan losses, maximum							$ 33,000,000			$ 33,000,000