Business.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Business.com Media, Inc.
Type Corporation
Industry Performance Based Marketing
Founded 1999
Headquarters Carlsbad, California, USA
Parent Resource Nation
Website Business.com

Business.com is a business advertising network which offers various performance marketing products, including pay per lead and pay per click services, directory listings,[1] and display advertising.

History

Business.com, Inc. was founded in 1999 by Jake Winebaum, previously chairman of the Walt Disney Internet Group; and Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink, Boingo Wireless, and Helio, among others.[2] Around that time, the Business.com domain name was purchased from Marc Ostrofsky by Winebaum's eCompanies Ventures for a then record $7.5 million.[3] This represented a tidy profit over the $150,000 price tag of the domain in 1997, also a record in its own time.[4] In addition to investment by eCompanies, early funding in the amount of $61 million was provided in 2000 by Pearson PLC, Reed Business Information, McGraw Hill, and others.[5] In its initial form, Business.com aimed to be the Internet's leading search engine for small business and corporate information.[6]

As with much of the nascent and well-hyped Internet industry, Business.com struggled through the Dot-com bubble years.[7] The company retooled beginning in 2002 after massive layoffs and a new focus on developing a pay for performance ad network model.[8] In April 2003, the company achieved profitability, and on November 8, 2004, having survived the collapse of the dot-com bubble, the company secured an additional $10 million in venture capital funding from Benchmark Capital.

On October 9, 2006, Business.com launched Work.com, a site with business how-to guides contributed by the small business community.[9]

Then on July 26, 2007, after beating out Dow Jones & Company, the New York Times Company, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and News Corp, print and interactive marketing company R.H. Donnelley Corporation announced plans to acquire Business.com in a deal valued at $345 million.[10] The deal closed on August 23, 2007.[11][12]

In June 2009, R.H. Donnelley filed for bankruptcy.[13] The company emerged from Chapter 11 as Dex One Corporation on February 1, 2010.

In February 2011, Resource Nation[14] acquired the brand and associated assets of Business.com to become one of the largest online destinations for business buyers looking for business-to-business (B2B) solutions. JMI Equity, a growth equity firm that specializes in investments in internet companies, provided funding in support of the transaction and the Company's ongoing growth. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.[15]

In January 2013, the appointment of Tony Uphoff as CEO was announced.[16] Uphoff was most recently CEO of UBM TechWeb and named a Top 100 business media exec by B2B Magazine and a "Top Media Innovator " by Mins B2B in 2009. In March 2013, Business.com launched a site refresh, new logo and new suite of products.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "10 Common Link Building Problems". Search Engine Watch. 2013-10-02. 
  2. ↑ Rose, Frank (March 2006). "Sky Dayton Gets Mobile". Wired. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  3. ↑ "One Word Domain Name Sales Reach Record Levels". PR.com. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  4. ↑ Wingfield, Nick (1997-06-04). "Domain name fetches record price". News.com. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  5. ↑ "Business.com Secures New Round of Financing; Growth Potential of Business Search Drives $10 Million Investment from Benchmark Capital". bNet (Business Wire). 2004-11-08. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  6. ↑ Loftus, Peter (2004-12-08). "Something ventured: Renewed VC Interest In A Pricey Name". business.com (Dow Jones Newswires). Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  7. ↑ "Dot-Com Layoffs and Shutdowns". The Wall Street Journal Online. 2001-11-28. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
  8. ↑ Siklos, Richard (2008-05-02). "Business.com's winding road". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  9. ↑ "Work.com launches to help small businesses tackle their most important business tasks". Business.com. 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  10. ↑ "R.H. Donnelley to Acquire Business.com Inc.". Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
  11. ↑ "Business.com, Inc.". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  12. ↑ Ali, Rafat (2007-07-26). "Business.com Sold To RH Donnelley; Beating DJ, NYT and News Corp; Price $345 Million". paidcontent.org. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  13. ↑ "Business.com Owner Files for Bankruptcy". Domain Name Wire. June 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 
  14. ↑ resourcenation.com
  15. ↑ prnewswire.com
  16. ↑ "Tony Uphoff Named CEO". FOLIO Mag. 2013-01-15. 
  17. ↑ "Business.com blog". Business.com. March 2013. 

External links

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