Is this the article you are referring to? Below it, I posted a couple of articles of a like company that just went public? How much do you think the Oscar will go for when it IPOs, next year according to this article. A couple months back I saw where Schwab took out a 2 page ad in the WSJ. About a quarter page listed its ranking by various entities. Gomez was listed first. I didn't think much of the placement, but now perhap it was an indication that Schwab shares the perception that winning a Gomez ranking is like winning the Oscar. Think Gomez will go public before the end of Ashton's fiscal year?
Business Week: October 25, 1999
Finance: Internet
How Good Are the Gomez Ratings?
Secrecy and selling data to brokers it ranks draws fire
For online brokers, getting a top rating from Gomez Advisors Inc. is
like winning an Oscar. ``It's the Academy Awards of online
brokerage,' says Douglas Doyle, director of product marketing for
E*Trade Group Inc. And no firm was happier than E*Trade when
Gomez, which calls itself ``The eCommerce Authority,' named it the
nation's top broker. On Sept. 29, E*Trade took out full-page
newspaper ads to boast of its accolade and plastered the award on
its Web site.
But the high-profile Gomez ratings, which are updated quarterly, are
coming under fire. Companies rated by Gomez, as well as rivals in
the online-ratings business, question the objectivity of its rankings.
The problem: Gomez doesn't disclose the criteria used in its ratings
and generates all of its revenue by selling advertising on its Web
site
and market research to the companies it ranks. ``Their system is
subject to bias,' says Farhad Mohit, president of rival
online-ratings
service BizRate.com. ``If a top-rated company is a top advertiser, are
they going to easily be knocked down in the rankings?'
But Gomez CEO Julio Gomez insists he maintains a strict separation
of church and state. ``There is nothing that can be bought in terms of
our rankings,' he says. ``Our integrity is paramount.' He says his
ratings are based on 250 criteria that he keeps confidential for fear
that competitors will clone his system. ``Am I supposed to give a
couple of college kids the blueprint for my business so they can knock
it off?'
What you see on the Web site is a summary scorecard. Right now,
for example, Gomez rates E*Trade tops in ease of use, but the Web
site does not detail what criteria Gomez used to determine that.
Firms rated by Gomez can buy data that might help them improve
their sites and thus move up in the rankings. At a cost of $24,000 to
$48,000 annually, depending on the size of the firm, they can gain
access to about 40 criteria, along with a host of other data, Gomez
says. Gomez recently launched a Web-based version of its research
service, called GomezPro, which Gomez calls ``the platform for the
next generation of knowledge transfer and market intelligence for
e-commerce.'
Many online brokers consider the Gomez ratings an important
evaluation of how they stack up. But some industry execs question the
Gomez research service because it encourages companies to ``pay
to play,' says one former Charles Schwab Corp. exec. When
Schwab's Gomez rankings slid into the teens in early '98, company
execs said they asked the firm what they needed to do to improve
their standing. The firm suggested Schwab sign up for its consulting
service. ``We didn't care to associate with them at first because of
the appearance of a conflict,' says the exec. A Schwab
spokeswoman denies that there was any hesitation in signing up with
Gomez and says: ``They provide thoughtful, first-rate information.'
WHY THE MOVE? Gomez says Schwab eventually did sign up and
received ``a general analysis of the site and recommendations'
about how to improve it. He says Schwab did not receive any
detailed information from the scorecard data. But he adds that
Schwab has implemented some suggestions and made others on its
own, and that has moved Schwab up in the ratings. Schwab now
ranks second behind E*Trade for overall performance.
Schwab isn't the only online brokerage that is buying Gomez' data.
About half of Gomez' nearly $2.5 million in revenues over the past 15
months came from its research business, according to public filings
with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Gomez says he wants his firm to become the ``Consumer Reports of
the Internet.' But he is taking a different approach from Consumers
Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine (page 182).
Consumers Union fully discloses the criteria it uses in its rankings
and refuses any financial relationship with companies whose
products it rates. It also refuses to let companies with top ratings
promote that fact in ads.
PUBLIC PUSH. Consumers Union is also nonprofit, while Gomez is a
classic Internet startup, pushing eagerly toward an initial public
offering. Some 70% of Gomez' privately held voting stock is owned
by Ashton Technology Group Inc., a publicly traded
Philadelphia-based holding company for startup-stage technology
companies. In April, Gomez Advisors, based in Lincoln, Mass.,
completed a $5.5 million private placement that requires the
company to go public by April, 2002, or return the capital. Gomez
says the process for an initial public offering is under way, and he
hopes to go public early next year.
In preparation for the IPO, Gomez is rapidly expanding its ratings
service into areas of e-commerce beyond financial services. So far
this year, it has launched 19 scorecards for industries ranging from
apparel to furniture. ``We are building a valuable tool for
consumers,'
he says. By yearend, Gomez says he'll have research products built
around the scorecards for the retail, health care, and travel
industries.
Gomez faces stiff competition in becoming a resource for online
consumer advice. Many Net companies are developing consumer
ratings services or have other approaches to guiding consumers
through the maze of e-commerce. Yahoo! Inc. is starting to rate
shopping sites, and Amazon.com Inc. offers products reviews and
recommendations.
Gomez' most direct threat may be BizRate.com. The Web site claims
to be ``the only independent shopping guide that provides unbiased
ratings'--and develops its ratings through online consumer surveys,
not Gomez-style staff research. BizRate recently entered into an
alliance with Consumer Reports.
Gomez has a long way to go to make its Web site tops in the
e-commerce ratings game. The site does not register among the top
1,500 measured by Media Metrix, a leading firm that tracks Web
usage. Boosting consumer confidence in its ratings might help it on
its way.
By Geoffrey Smith in Boston
Copyright 1999 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Any use is subject to (1) terms and conditions of this service and (2)
rules stated under ``Read This First' in the ``About Business Week'
area.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday October 8, 1:49 pm Eastern Time
Jupiter shares double in price after
IPO
NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Shares of market research firm
Jupiter Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:JPTR - news) more
than doubled in price on Friday after the company's initial public
offering was priced at $21 a share.
In morning dealings, shares of Jupiter were up 21-3/8 at 42-3/8 on the
Nasdaq with six million
shares trading.
The deal, which raised $65.6 million, priced 3.125 million shares above
an upwardly revised price
range. The company had initially expected its IPO to price in a range of
$15-17.
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette was the lead underwriter on the offering,
which represented a 22
percent stake in the firm.
Analysts said investors were drawn to its strong brand name.
``Jupiter's research has been right on the mark and they are becoming a
Web authority for the
business,' said Tom Taulli, senior analyst at Internet.com.
The New York-based firm, which offers research on Internet commerce,
posted $14.4 million in
revenues and a net loss of $130,000 for the six months ended March 31.
``It has all the ingredients for success and the market has been quite
liberal in recent valuations. It
has a decent growth rate at 131 percent and revenues are moving in the
right direction, and it had
good pre-offering demand as well,' said Irv DeGraw, research director
at WorldFinanceNet.com.
Analysts had expected the offering to perform well. Demand for research
is seen growing in the
coming years as Internet commerce and new technologies expand.
The firm's competitors include Forrester Research, Gartner Group Inc.
(NYSE:IT - news) -- which
is also one of Jupiter's largest shareholders -- and Gomez Advisors.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
JUPITER COMMUNICATIONS INC (JPTR)
S-1 Filing (SEC form S1)
We are a leading provider of research on Internet commerce. Senior
executives at client companies
utilize our research to make informed business decisions in a complex
and rapidly changing Internet
economy. Our research, which is solely focused on the Internet economy,
provides our clients with
comprehensive views of industry trends, forecasts and best practices.
Our analysis, supported by
proprietary data, emphasizes specific, actionable findings.
Our research services are provided primarily through our continuous
subscription product, Strategic
Planning Services, which we call SPS. SPS is a combination of
proprietary written analysis,
supporting data and access to our analysts. We typically bill clients
annually in advance and deliver
the products and services over the term of the contract. We generate our
research through seven
focused teams of research analysts and associates. Our proprietary
research is informed and
supported by a dedicated data research group. We increasingly deliver
our products via the Internet.
We have a highly diversified client base, including companies in the
Internet, media,
telecommunications, technology, financial services, retail, travel,
consumer products and professional
services industries. We have successfully increased the number of SPS
clients and our total contract
value, which is the annualized value of all SPS contracts at a given
point in time. As of March 31,
1999, we had 514 SPS contracts, an increase from 421 on December 31,
1998 and 145 on
December 31, 1997. Our total contract value has increased from $2.5
million on December 31,
1997, to $11.7 million on December 31, 1998 and to $15.2 million on
March 31, 1999. In addition,
approximately 71% of the SPS contracts that expired during the 12 months
prior to March 31,
1999 were renewed.
We also produce a wide range of conferences which offer senior
executives the opportunity to hear
first-hand the insights of our analysts and the leading decision makers
in the Internet and technology
industries. Because over 75% of the attendees are not SPS clients, these
conferences provide a
unique opportunity to promote our SPS research to potential clients.
These conferences also allow
us to increase the public profile of our analysts, generate favorable
press and otherwise promote the
Jupiter brand.
MARKET OPPORTUNITY
We believe that the growth of the Internet, and the growth of Internet
commerce in particular, will
continue to expand rapidly for the foreseeable future both in the United
States and abroad. A recent
report by the University of Texas' Center for Research in Electronic
Commerce estimated that the
Internet economy generated approximately $300 billion in U.S. revenue
and was responsible for 1.2
million jobs in 1998. A recent study by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and
Development predicted that worldwide Internet commerce will grow to $1
trillion by 2005. In
addition, billion dollar markets are emerging on the Internet for many
different industry sectors.
Specifically, for the U.S. we project that by 2003 the online travel
industry will grow to
approximately $17 billion, online advertising will grow to approximately
$12 billion, overall
consumer online shopping will grow to approximately $43 billion and that
total assets held in online
brokerage accounts will grow to approximately $3 trillion.
The rapid growth of Internet commerce and the related increase in
innovative products, services and
technologies have made it difficult for companies to understand and
evaluate the steps they should
take to engage in and expand their Internet commerce activities, promote
their online businesses and
compete effectively. Thus, demand is growing for timely and credible
research to assist companies in
identifying revenue models and success criteria, analyzing consumer
adoption trends, developing
effective sales and marketing strategies, assessing market trends and
analyzing the competitive
landscape. Demand for research, analysis and advice is also expected to
increase as the growth in
Internet commerce and consumer use of new technologies impacts more
industries and expands into
other geographic areas.
OUR STRATEGY
Our objective is to be the premier global research company focusing on
Internet commerce. Key
elements of our business strategy include the following:
- Staying at the forefront of research innovation;
- Increasing our client base in the United States and abroad;
- Increasing the level of sales to existing clients;
- Pursuing international opportunities;
- Continuing to strengthen the Jupiter brand;
- Increasing the number of conferences that we produce; and
- Enhancing our Web delivery platform.
Recent Filings: Jul 1999 (S-1 Filing)
More filings for JPTR available from EDGAR Online
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