Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » IAC

IAC Reports A Profit Of $18.1 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:57:06 +0000

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) has reported a first quarter profit of $18.1 million this quarter. They recently renewed a contract with Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) that estimated to be worth $5.5 billion over 5 years. Google provides IAC with search products and advertising services.

Even though Ask.com has showed improvements, IAC is facing an increase in costs as The Daily Beast subsidiary recently acquired Newsweek magazine. During the same period last year, IAC reported a loss of $18.7 million.

IAC’s overall revenue had increased 22% to $460.2 million. Match.com’s revenue increased 25% and operating income surged 71% for the quarter. Home improvement referral website ServiceMagic had a 10% revenue gain and operating income had risen 59%.

[WSJ]

Match.com Being Sued Because Woman Was Attacked After Date

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:53:42 +0000

Match.com is being sued by a woman in California since she was sexually assaulted after a date. Mark L. Webb filed the civil lawsuit against Match.com on behalf of the woman in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit is demanding that Match.com screens members for potential sexual predators. Webb filed for a temporary injunction to prevent Match.com from allowing new members to join until the issue is fixed. The woman met the predator last year at Urth Cafe in West Hollywood. After the second date, the man followed the woman home and attacked her. Match.com is owned by InterActiveCorp (IAC). [The Huffington Post]

IAC Extends Search and Ad Deal With Google Until 2016

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:51:02 +0000

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI), the parent company of Ask.com, has made an amendment to an agreement made with Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). The original deal was made to last until 2012, but the amendment extended it to March 2016. Google provides IAC with search products and advertising such as sponsored listings. IAC cut 130 jobs at Ask.com recently. IAC is going to focus on its Q&A services and its toolbar business. [WSJ]

Michael Eisner Joins Board of Directors at IAC

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:10:08 +0000

Michael Eisner, the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company (1984-2005), has joined the board of directors at IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI). IAC now has 13 board members. Before Disney, Eisner was the President of Paramount for 8 years. He also founded investment firm Tornante.

Match.com Acquires Dating Website OkCupid For $50 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:26:00 +0000

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) subsidiary Match.com has acquired OkCupid for $50 million in cash. This deal includes future earn-outs based on performance. OkCupid is free, but makes money from advertising. OkCupid has raised $6 million in funding and it was co-founded by Max Krohn, Sam Yagan, Chris Coyne, and Christian Rudder. OkCupid will continue to operate out of their offices in New York.

Barry Diller Buys Back IAC Stake From Liberty and Steps Down From CEO Spot

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:56:41 +0000

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) CEO Barry Diller is stepping down from the company. Liberty Media is also exchanging their equity stake in IAC for cash and assets in a deal that is worth $220 million. Liberty is exchanging 12.8 million IAC shares for all of the capital stock in an IAC subsidiary the runs the Evite and Gifts.com businesses.

Diller will be replaced by the former CEO of Match.com. Match.com is an IAC portfolio company. Diller will continue to serve as the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC. Diller exchanged 4.3 million IAC common stock shares for an equal number of Class B common stock that is held by Liberty.

Diller’s shares represent about 34% of the total votes of all IAC stock. He has the largest individual voting stake in IAC with an option to increase it to 41%. Evite and Gifts.com will be rolled into Liberty’s e-commerce portfolio.

[Fortune]

Online Party Planning Website Punchbowl.com Acquires Rival Socializr

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:42:51 +0000

Online party planning company Punchbowl.com has acquired a rival called Socializr. Socializr was started by Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams. Both Socializr and Punchbowl.com compete against Evite.com, a party planning website owned by InterActiveCorp/IAC. The financial terms were undisclosed.

Punchbowl is about twice the size of Socializr. Socializr had raised about $3 million in funding and Punchbowl raised about $2 million.

[paidContent]

Newsweek and The Daily Beast Merge

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:41:20 +0000

Newsweek magazine is merging with The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast is an online news website that is owned by InterActiveCorp that is run by Tina Brown. The joint venture will be called the Newsweek Daily Beast Company. The Newsweek Daily Beast Company is owned equally by IAC and Sidney Harman (Newsweek owner).

The Washington Post Company sold Newsweek for $1 plus $40 million in debt to Sidney Harman. Tina Brown will become the editor in chief at Newsweek Daily Beast Company.

This announcement arrives at a time shortly after talks were abandoned recently. Newsweek is losing about $20 million per year and The Daily Beast is expected to lose about $10 million this year.

[Daily Beast]

IAC Shutting Down Ask.com Search Operations, Focusing On Q&A Service

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:30:40 +0000

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) is shutting down the search operations for Ask.com. Ask.com was acquired by IAC for $1.85 billion in July 2005. About 130 engineering jobs will be cut and 20 engineers currently working in New Jersey will be asked to move to Oakland. With a 65% market share of all U.S. searches, Google is simply too big of a company to compete with.

“It’s become this huge juggernaut of a company that we really thought we could compete against by innovating,” stated Ask.com President Doug Leeds. “We did a great job of holding our market share but it wasn’t enough to grow the way IAC had hoped we would grow when it bought us.”

Ask.com will still have a search box on their homepage, but the search will be powered by one of their competitors. Supposedly Ask.com will focus primarily on their toolbar and Q&A business going forward.

[Bloomberg]

Dictionary.com Launches API Development Center

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 01:04:53 +0000

Dictionary.com has released a new service called the API Development Center. Dictionary.com now has APIs available for the public at the Development Center to make apps and services work their website content. Dictionary.com’s APIs also include developer access to content on Thesaurus.com and Reference.com.

Developers can build Dictionary.com access into their applications without making users open a new browser or use the Dictionary.com app. Their API gallery include Facebook games and applications created for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry.

There is a number of free and paid options for API access at the API Development Center. Dictionary.com accepts license fees or revenue-sharing deals. Dictionary.com is owned by Ask.com, a subsidiary of InterActiveCorp.

[PCWorld]