Internet Brands ( ) is a
new media company based in El Segundo,
California
that operates online media, community, and e-commerce sites in
vertical markets. The
company also
develops and
licenses internet
software and
social media applications.
Businesses
The company operates two divisions: consumer internet and
licensing.
Consumer Internet Division
The consumer internet division owns and operates more than 90
websites in seven categories. The largest websites include:
- Automotive: CarsDirect, NewCarTestDrive, Wikicars and the world's most trafficked
portfolio of car enthusiast sites
- Careers: GrooveJob, iFreelance,
Model
Mayhem, NursingJobs.org, WAHM
(Work at Home Moms)
- Health: 3FatChicks, CancerForums.net,
FitDay, HealthNews.org
- Home: ApartmentRatings,
DoItYourself.com, RealEstateABC.com
- Money and business: CreditorWeb.com, FinWeb.com, Loan.com
- Shopping: The Bargainist,
Ben's Bargains, HighDefDigest
- Travel and leisure: CruiseMates,
FlyerTalk, Wikitravel
The company follows a strategy of aggregating
target audiences that are primarily monetized
through
advertising; the sites are
focused on specific
vertical
markets which tend to be most attractive to advertisers.
According to the company's filings, the sites generated an average
of 50 million
unique visitors in the
third quarter of 2009.
The company's portfolio of websites include many with
social media features, since they extensively
utilize
social network
services,
user generated
content,
blogs,
wikis, and
internet
forums. Many of the websites are driven by sizeable
virtual communities (millions in total
membership); for instance FlyerTalk tallies 220,000 registered
members on its home page,
CorvetteForum.com more than 200,000,
Huntingnet.com more than 122,000, HDForums (
Harley Davidson) more than 80,000.
The company is an active
acquirer of
websites.
Licensing Division
The licensing divisions consists of
Autodata Solutions and
vBulletin. vBulletin software, which is among the
most popular internet forum software in the world, is utilized by
many of the company's community-driven websites. Autodata Solutions
supplies content and software solutions to Internet Brands
websites, but Autodata's primary business is serving third party
clients, such as most as of the leading Automotive
OEMs and many internet
portals. Autodata was acquired by
Internet Brands in 1999.
History
The company was founded in
1998 as
CarsDirect.com, launched from the
business incubator Idealab. The company invented a consumer-advocacy
approach to selling cars "haggle-free" online, an approach it
continues to employ. In 2000,
Roger
Penske invested in the company and joined the Board of
Directors. In 2002,
Time Magazine
voted the site one of the 50 best in the World.
Reflecting its growth and diversification, the company changed its
name in 2005. The company's
IPO was in November
2007 on the NASDAQ exchange.
Internet
Brands is headquartered in El Segundo
, California; Autodata is headquartered in London, Ontario
.
Recognitions and Awards
Internet Brands websites have received numerous recognitions; some
of the recent awards in reverse chronological order:
- BensBargains.net named one of the "100 most useful websites" by
MSN Money in 2009.
- DoItYourself.com selected as one of the "Top 10 Sites for Do It
Yourself Projects" by PlanetGreen.com
in 2009.
- Bargainist.com named one of the "Top 100 Favorite Blogs" by
PC World in 2009.
- Wikitravel named one of the "50 Best Websites of 2008" by
Time Magazine.
- FitDay.com named top fitness site by PC World in 2008.
- CarsDirect.com named top 7 site for "buying or selling
anything" by PC World in 2008.
- Wikitravel won the Webby Award in
2007 for best travel website.
- ApartmentRatings.com won the Innovator Award in 2006 from the
Inman News.
- DoItYourself.com selected one of the best real estate sites in
2006 by CNNMoney.com ("Satisfy your
Inner Bob Vila").
- Autos.com Webby Award honoree in
2006.
- Cruisemates.com voted best site for Cruise reviews by
Kiplinger's in 2006.
See also
References
External links
Wikis
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