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IAC/InterActiveCorp

April 30, 2008

IAC Earnings: Rising Google Lifts All Search Partners

IAC's media and advertising revenues enjoyed a Q1 boost thanks to the company's renewed ad partnership with Google. Ask.com improved both its revenue per query and overall revenues during the period, "even excluding the benefits of the renewed contract." However it's clear from IAC's statement that the company's buddy up in Mountain View deserves much credit for its solid search performance, especially considering total queries were down. A reduced marketing budget also helped profits.

Meanwhile, there was predictable pain over in IAC's Lending Tree unit, which is set to be spun off along with other non-advertising businesses. The company noted it had lowered its marketing investment for lending products, which translates to reduced spending on online lead generation. Again, no surprise there.

IAC's not the only Google partner sitting pretty today. Another party to benefit greatly from its relationship with the borg is TW's AOL, which today reported strength in search advertising thanks in part to the relationship. Meanwhile display advertising revenue on its own sites shrank -- largely due to anticipated factors, it should be said.

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February 6, 2008

Diller Says a Microsoft/Yahoo Deal Good for Ask

During IAC's Q4 2007 earnings call this morning, CEO Barry Diller said the firm has had "extensive conversations" with Microsoft and Yahoo regarding Ask.com. However, he added, they "simply did not have the ability…to bid for us."

As for the potential Microsoft/Yahoo pair up, Diller said he thinks it could benefit Ask.com. "I think this gives us an advantage,"' he said, noting, "at least a couple years of integration challenges" would be ahead of the combined firm while Ask would have all that time to "innovate." Indeed, morphing the two search platforms and advertising platforms, not to mention the business operation and staff would take quite some time.

IAC reported revenues for its Media and Advertising segment grew 42 percent to $226.6 million in Q4 2007 over the same period in 2006. The segment includes Citysearch, Evite and Ask.

"Within IAC Search & Media, network revenue growth outpaced that of proprietary revenue, primarily due to a wider adoption of sponsored listings products and toolbar distribution. Proprietary revenue grew on the strength of both Fun Web Products and Ask.com, which continues to see improved user retention and frequency," noted a company press release.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 23, 2007

Barry Diller Bringing Ask.com, $100M to China

IAC/InteractiveCorp., owner of over 60 interactive brands including search site Ask.com, will reportedly invest up to $100 million to build its business in China.

Chief Executive Barry Diller told journalists in Bejing that the company will likely launch a Chinese version of Ask.com within two years and plans to invest $100 million in an online gaming venture based there, MarketWatch reports today.

IAC, to date, has invested $200 million in China, Reuters reports. That investment involves IAC's Expedia, which has a majority stake in China's eLong.

Looks like Diller has some money to throw around. IAC, in its Sept. 30 earnings report, said it had had $1.8 billion in cash on hand and marketable securities.

In 2006, 9 percent of IAC's $6.3 billion in revenue came from media and advertising, including Ask.com, Evite, and CitySearch. As of

Earlier this month, Diller announced plans to split IAC into five companies. The plan calls for leaving the Internet and advertising-related entities intact under IAC's banner. Other new companies would include: HSN for retail businesses; Ticketmaster for ticket sales; Interval International for timeshare properties; and LendingTree for real estate and lending businesses.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 6, 2007

Diller Does Online Video

IAC/InterActiveCorp.'s making a belated push into online video with an expansion of CollegeHumor.com to include original clips. WSJ has details, including that videos are mainly being produced on the cheap and the focus is NOT on user-created stuff. Nothing terribly exciting to see here; the big story is Diller's expertise in broadcast TV and feature films and the advantage that gives him on the Net. The guy knows content, but then so did Time Inc., and look what happened to Office Pirates. A good online video strategy won't amount to much unless it's paired with investment.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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