MediaAlpha, a market research company that helps businesses convert customers online, reported a full-year revenue increase of 10% and a narrower net loss of $8.5 million in its fourth-quarter and full-year report released Feb. 24.

The downtown-based company’s main customers are insurance carriers. Along with its financial results, the company announced the acquisition of Customer Helper Team, a Medicare inquiry provider based in Reno, Nev., with expertise in social media marketing. The acquisition will further accelerate MediaAlpha’s health insurance vertical and expand its social media capabilities, according to Chief Executive Steve Yi.

In a conference call to discuss the quarterly results, Yi discussed the acquisition as an entry to the Medicare market.

“What we’re seeing in our marketplace is a growing appetite for calls from a lot of our Medicare carriers and their ability to really tap into the social media channel,” he explained.

“We’re big believers in the overall secular trends in that space, with larger numbers of seniors aging in every year, these newer cohorts, you know, opting into Medicare Advantage at higher levels in older cohorts, as well as just a general level of internet savviness exhibited by the newer cohorts of Medicare consumers, meaning that they are increasingly starting their shopping and research experiences online.”

For last year’s fourth quarter, MediaAlpha reported a net loss of $4 million compared to a loss of $13 million for the same period a year earlier.

For the full year, the company had a net loss of $8.5 million (down 19 cents a share), compared to a loss of $10 million (down 14 cents) for the prior year. Revenue for the year grew 10% to $645 million.

“In our health insurance vertical, we grew by 40% for the year and had our strongest quarter ever, driven by record carrier spend,” Yi said in a statement.
The 40% growth in transaction value for the health sector clocked in at $245 million.

During the conference call, Yi also spoke of the potential he sees in the property and casualty insurance sector.

“Despite the challenges in the P&C insurance vertical, we firmly believe that the industry is continuing its powerful secular shift toward direct online customer acquisition,” he said.