NEW YORK, July 22, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- As one of the few companies that utilize a pay-per-click advertising model, FindWhat.com (Nasdaq:FWHT) is in a sector that was "ripe for consolidation," as proven in the first half of 2003, the company's Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Phillip R. Thune, told www.wallst.net.
"We are a great way to advertise for people who want to just get their name out there," Thune said. "The benefit is that we only charge you if people come to your site." Conversely, the CPM advertising model charges based on impressions regardless of their impact to a business, Thune said. He called FindWhat.com's pay-per-click advertising model "a much more satisfying model for advertisers, and a better way to figure out their return on their investment." FindWhat.com is focused on "middle-market sites," or smaller companies that are eager to get their names out to the masses. "We thought that it was an area where we could provide more value than our other competitors," which include Google, and Yahoo/Overture (NASD:YHOO). "We think it was a more sustainable business model, and we thought we could get fair value for the assistance we were providing. And I think that's proven to be true."
FindWhat.com recently entered a partnership with Espotting Media Inc., a performance-based marketing company in Europe. Thune said the merger will facilitate growth both inside the United States and abroad. "I think it's about being able to grow with our partners, and to maybe be able to leverage new opportunities," he said. Espotting was able to "roll out over 10 countries across Europe," Thune said citing what he sees as imminent growth in market size from the merger. "It's more about being able to introduce the partners we have in the U.S. with the Espotting folks (and vice versa), so that we can help our partners become global with us."
Although the recent merger is a big step for FindWhat.com's growth and expansion, Thune said that he doesn't "think the Espotting announcement is the end of strategic opportunities for us. We think it's just the beginning. Anything we can do in the future, we can now leverage over two continents."
To hear the entire interview, visit www.wallst.net
About FindWhat.com
FindWhat.com operates online marketplaces that connect the consumers and businesses that are most likely to purchase specific goods and services with the advertisers that provide those goods and services. Online advertisers determine the per-click fee they will pay for their advertisements, which FindWhat.com and its private-label partners such as Terra Lycos's Lycos.com and HotBot distribute to millions of Internet users. The FindWhat.com Network includes hundreds of distribution partners, such as CNET's Search.com, Excite, Webcrawler, NBCi, MetaCrawler, Dogpile, Go2Net and Microsoft Internet Explorer Autosearch.
About www.wallst.net
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