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Business.com

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Business.com Media, Inc.
Company typeCorporation
IndustryPerformance Based Marketing
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
HeadquartersCarlsbad, California, U.S.
ParentBusiness.com
Websitewww.business.com

Business.com is a digital media company and B2B web destination which offers various performance marketing advertising, including lead generation products on a pay per lead and pay per click basis, directory listings,[1] and display advertising. The site covers business industry news and trends for growth companies and the B2B community to stay up-to-date, and hosted more than 15,000 pieces of content as of November 2014. Business.com operates as a subsidiary of the Purch Group since being acquired in 2016.[2]

Having sold their brands to Future, Purch's existing B2B assets later reorganised into Business.com.

History

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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.[3] Around that time, the Business.com domain name was purchased from Marc Ostrofsky by Winebaum's eCompanies Ventures for $7.5 million.[4][5] 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.[6] In its initial form, Business.com aimed to be the Internet's leading search engine for small business and corporate information.[7]

Business.com struggled through the Dot-com bubble years.[8] The company retooled beginning in 2002 after massive layoffs and a new focus on developing a pay for performance ad network model.[9] In April 2003, the company achieved profitability, and on November 8, 2004, the company secured an additional $10 million in venture capital funding from Benchmark Capital.

Having purchased the domain in 2001,[10][11] Business.com launched Work.com on October 9, 2006. The site included business how-to guides contributed by the small business community.[12] Work.com was sold in March 2012 and is now a corporate performance management platform owned by Salesforce.[13][14][15]

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. The deal closed on August 23, 2007.[16][17]

In June 2009, R.H. Donnelley filed for bankruptcy.[18] The company emerged from Chapter 11 as Dex One Corporation on February 1, 2010.[19] In February 2011, Resource Nation acquired the brand and associated assets of Business.com. JMI Equity provided funding in support of the transaction.

In January 2013, the appointment of Tony Uphoff as CEO was announced.[20] In March 2013, Business.com launched a site refresh, new logo and new suite of products.[21] New content management, analytics, and big data platforms were introduced in August 2014.[22]

In June 2016, Business.com was acquired by Purch Group.[23] When Future plc acquired Purch's consumer properties in 2018, Business.com was not included and was instead spun off as an independent company.[24]

Content

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Business.com produces daily content to help business owners plan, launch, manage, and grow their businesses. Staff reporters and market experts provide insight on the latest news and discussions around marketing, human resources, technology, entrepreneurship, sales, and finance.

Business.com also features objective reviews, roundups, and buying guides for business products to help business owners make purchasing decisions. The site also includes tools for calculating payroll deductions, stock options, and cash flow.

Products

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Business.com serves advertisers looking to reach small and mid-sized business.[25] Advertising customers include some of the largest B2B brands in B2B such as Intel, Salesforce, Marketo, ADP, Sprint as well as smaller brands. Its suite of digital marketing products include display advertising, pay per click, email marketing, content marketing demand generation, and lead generation for sales ready leads.[citation needed]

In December, 2014, the company launched LENS, a lead expansion and nurturing service, as part of their demand generation product set.

Awards and recognition

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Business.com has been named as a Best Place to Work by the San Diego Business Journal in 2012, 2013, 2014.[26] In October 2014, the website was ranked #1 on Inc.com's '50 Websites Your Startup Needs to Succeed'.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "10 Common Link Building Problems". Search Engine Watch. 2013-10-02.
  2. ^ Teresa Novellino. "Purch Picks up Business.com, Tapping into Business of Small Business". New York Business Journal.
  3. ^ Rose, Frank (March 2006). "Sky Dayton Gets Mobile". Wired. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  4. ^ "One Word Domain Name Sales Reach Record Levels". PR.com. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  5. ^ Wingfield, Nick (1997-06-04). "Domain name fetches record price". CNET. Archived from the original on September 25, 2012. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  6. ^ "Business.com Secures New Round of Financing; Growth Potential of Business Search Drives $10 Million Investment from Benchmark Capital". Business Wire. 2004-11-08. Archived from the original on May 29, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  7. ^ Loftus, Peter (2004-12-08). "Something ventured: Renewed VC Interest In A Pricey Name". business.com (Dow Jones Newswires). Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  8. ^ "Dot-Com Layoffs and Shutdowns". The Wall Street Journal Online. 2001-11-28. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  9. ^ Siklos, Richard (2008-05-02). "Business.com's winding road". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  10. ^ "Business.com Launches Version 2.0 with Enhanced Content and Features". newsbreaks.infotoday.com. 2001-04-16. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  11. ^ Pham, Alex (2001-03-31). "Work.com Is Sold for Mere $500,000 to Business.com". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  12. ^ "Work.com launches to help small businesses tackle their most important business tasks". Business.com. 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  13. ^ Allemann, Andrew (2012-03-15). "Did Salesforce.com acquire Work.com domain name?". Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  14. ^ Allemann, Andrew (2012-07-30). "Salesforce.com buys Work.com domain name". Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  15. ^ Rao, Leena (2012-09-19). "Salesforce Debuts Rypple-Powered Work.com To Help Companies Manage Talent, Partners With Facebook". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  16. ^ "Business.com, Inc". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  17. ^ "Business.com Sells for $350 Million". TechCrunch. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  18. ^ "Business.com Owner Files for Bankruptcy". Domain Name Wire. June 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  19. ^ Hosford, Christopher (February 2, 2010). "R.H. DONNELLEY EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY AS DEX ONE". Ad Age. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  20. ^ Mickey, Bill (2013-01-15). "Tony Uphoff Named CEO". FOLIO Mag. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013.
  21. ^ "Business.com blog". Business.com. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  22. ^ "Business.com Press Release on Site Transformation and B2B Digital Media". Business.com. 2014-08-11. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  23. ^ Ha, Anthony (June 22, 2016). "Purch acquires small-business site Business.com". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  24. ^ Guaglione, Sara (September 7, 2018). "Future PLC Acquires Purch's B2C Brands, B2B Division Renamed Business.com". Mediapost.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  25. ^ "Reach in-market buyers at all stages". business.com. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  26. ^ "San Diego Business Journal 2014 Best Places to Work" (PDF). SDBJ.com. August 2014.
  27. ^ Hendricks, Drew (October 2, 2014). "50 Websites Your Startup Needs to Succeed". Inc.com.
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