May 22 (Bloomberg) -- ValueClick Inc., an online marketing
company, explained in greater detail what parts of its business
are being examined in a U.S. Federal Trade Commission probe of
how it promotes free gifts to users of its Web sites.
The FTC inquiry focuses on the company's so-called leadgeneration
business, the source of more than 60 percent of
first-quarter sales in its largest division, Westlake Village,
California-based ValueClick said today in a regulatory filing.
The FTC is examining the company's use of e-mail and free gifts.
ValueClick's report of the FTC probe on May 18 did little
to damp speculation that it may be the next Internet marketing
company to be acquired. ValueClick shares jumped 7.6 percent
after Microsoft said on May 18 that it agreed to buy online
advertising company AQuantive Inc. for $6 billion.
Potential ValueClick buyers may include IAC/Interactive
Corp., Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc., Time Warner Inc., Experian
Group Ltd., EBay Inc. and News Corp., ThinkEquity Partners LLC
analyst Stewart Barry suggested in a note to investors
yesterday. Microsoft's purchase followed Google's agreement last
month to buy DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion.
Shares of ValueClick rose 71 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $35
at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite
trading. The shares jumped $4.29, or 14 percent, to $34.29
yesterday and have climbed 26 percent since their May 17 closing
price of $27.88.
Promotion-based marketing and the use of unsolicited e-mail
to drive consumers to Web sites that offer free gifts are being
examined by the FTC, ValueClick said on May 18 when it first
reported the probe. The company said the FTC is trying to see if
it marketing methods violate U.S. laws including one that
requires the use of advertising labels on unsolicited e-mail.
The company said today that marketing using e-mail and free
gifts produced less than 30 percent of first-quarter sales in
its largest unit, called the media segment. The company had
first-quarter sales of $156.9 million, including $108.4 million
from its media segment. |
