LowerMyBills.com

LowerMyBills.com is a consumer finance corporate Web site, owned by Experian, that connects prospective mortgage borrowers to lenders. It was founded by Matt Coffin in 1999. It is well-known for its banner ads, which generally include bizarre or nonsensical animations or soundless video clips that are not related to financial matters.[1][2] Its corporate offices are in Los Angeles, California.[3]

The then-privately held company was purchased in 2005 by Experian for $330 million, with performance-based incentives that could add an additional $50 million over the next two years. In the year ending March 31, 2005. the company had an operating profit of $26 million on sales of $120 million.[4][5]

TNS Media Intelligence reports that the company spent nearly $75 million on web advertisements in 2006 through November, making it one of the medium's largest advertisers.[1]

In December 2007, Experian launched LowerMyBills.co.uk for UK consumers.

Some consumers who have filled out the teaser information form at LowerMyBills.com have complained that once their e-mail address and phone number are submitted, this information is then distributed by the site to potential lenders, many of whom may call or e-mail the consumer over a period of several days. As LowerMyBills.com does not provide a phone number on its website, it can be difficult if not impossible to be removed from their call/e-mail lists. LowerMyBills.com receives mostly negative reviews on consumer sites such as TrustLink.com [6] and RipOffReport.com [7].

References

  1. ^ a b Stone, Brad. "Don’t Like the Dancing Cowboys? Results Say You Do", The New York Times, January 18, 2007. Accessed May 16, 2007.
  2. ^ Gomes, Lee. "As Web Ads Grow, Sites Get Trickier About Targeting You", The Wall Street Journal, May 9 2007. Accessed May 16 2007. "Advertisers say the biggest thing in online ads these days is "rich media," a catchall phrase for those ads whose contents shimmy and shake. LowerMyBills.com is notorious for its endless loops of silhouetted dancers and surprised office workers. Other ads come alive when you move the mouse over them, ballooning to claim even more screen real estate to sell cars, movies, laundry soap and more."
  3. ^ Home page. LowerMyBills.com. Retrieved on October 4, 2010.
  4. ^ "ROUNDUP GUS beefs-up Experian with LowerMyBills.com purchase", Forbes, May 5, 2005. Accessed May 16, 2007.
  5. ^ "Acquisition of LowerMyBills.com by Experian for $330m plus earn-out", Experian press release dated May 5, 2005. Accessed May 16, 2007. "The purchase price is $330m, plus a maximum performance-related earn-out of $50m over the next two years.... "On a pro-forma basis, sales in the year to 31 March 2005 were $120m with operating profit of $26m. Further strong growth in sales and profit is expected in the current financial year and beyond."
  6. ^ http://www.trustlink.org/Reviews/LowerMyBillsCom-Inc-205800595
  7. ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/lowermybills_com.aspx

External links