Lost Web Surfers a $500MM Business?
Wholly Toledo. I thought the Isobar – iProspect deal was interesting. Don’t miss out on this one. Investors are flocking to give Marchex their money so that it can make a nearly $200MM wager on the status quo. What’s the bet? Both marketers and the surfing public will remain just as ignorant and malleable as they are today. How’s that for a kick in the teeth?
As Jeff Doak of Kowabunga commented to me this morning, “all it really proves to me is that every time I say ‘there is a pile of money sitting in internet marketing waiting to be grabbed’ I am far more right that I even suspect.”
Having raised the capital just weeks ago, they’re out spending it… and spending it in some rather… er… interesting ways and without saying much about why beyond:
Marchex believes that the acquired assets will build on Marchex’s
existing portfolio of Internet domains, and that there are several opportunities
to grow this traffic base and enhance user utility over time by leveraging
Marchex’s existing technologies and strategic relationships.
Even more fascinating from David Jackson’s What did Marchex (MCHX) really purchase?
When domain names expire they leave skeletons – networks of inbound links that continue to funnel traffic to that name, even if ownership has changed. Via eWeek, we learn that Microsoft owned HARDWARE-UPDATE.COM and used the name for a site featuring Windows drivers. The domain name is embedded in various error messages in Windows 2000. However, Microsoft did not renew the domain name and Ultimate Search, a company that specializes in this sort of thing, scooped it up. Now the page provides sponsored links, courtesy of Overture. The article reports that the top sponsored link pays over $3 a click-through.
I, and others, seem to be pointing at this and just laughing. Seems to me that the joke’s on people like me. These guys are laughing all the way to the bank but will Marchex turn out to have pulled a MarchFIRST (bitten off more than it can chew)? Have they done any due diligence on this and if so when will they reveal the math to investors?
Bye the way, if there’s a Marchex investor out there who feels good about this please chime in and offer up some reasoning. I’d love to hear how they’ll turn that investment into a half billion dollars.
Side note:
Does it fascinate anyone, other than me, that Web searchers actually continue to click once they’ve reached pages like these?
