Internet media company Demand Media Inc. was the subject of a billion-dollar acquisition rumor last week.
The Silicon Valley blog TechCrunch reported Dec. 14 that Santa Monica-based Demand Media, which is headed by former MySpace Chief Executive Richard Rosenblatt, was in merger talks with Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and America Online. Demand Media was reportedly seeking a purchase price of around $1 billion.
Rosenblatt declined to confirm or deny whether an interested buyer had recently approached the company. But he added that he doesn’t want to sell at the moment.
“We talk to a lot of different people all the time, but we are not interested in selling the company,” he told the Business Journal. “We are too excited about our future prospects to focus any energy on selling.”
Demand Media is an Internet publishing company that owns a vast network of niche Web sites and eHow.com, an Internet site with thousands of how-to articles and videos.
Since Rosenblatt started the company in 2005, Demand Media has grown to encompass more than 500 employees around the country. Company executives claim it’s been profitable since its first day, and it reportedly brings in about $200 million to $250 million in revenue a year.
Its performance has made Demand Media the subject of recurring speculation about a merger or a public offering. The most recent rumors circulated in December 2008, when some Internet pundits said Yahoo might buy Demand Media and make Rosenblatt the Internet giant’s new chief executive.
At the time, Rosenblatt told the Business Journal he wasn’t interested in the job or in selling the company. Yahoo eventually hired former Autodesk Inc. Chief Executive Carol Bartz.
Play It, Sam
Ever wanted to e-mail a friend Humphrey Bogart’s “Here’s looking at you, kid?” scene from the film “Casablanca”? Or Al Pacino’s last stand in “Scarface”?
In the past, a handful of such classic movie scenes might be available on video-sharing sites such as YouTube.com, but many are no longer there because of copyright protection. Now, a new local startup, Movieclips Inc., is offering a way to search and send thousands of clips from new and old films.
Santa Monica-based Movieclips has a database of more than 12,000 film clips on its Web site. The catalog of clips ranges from older films such as “Casablanca” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” to more recent fare such as “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” The clips typically are from 30 seconds to two minutes in length.
Users can watch the clips for free online, e-mail them to friends or share them via social networking sites. The site went live earlier this month.
The beauty of Movieclips is that it’s all legal. The 20-person company has inked deals with most of the major movie studios, including Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount, giving Movieclips access to their libraries.
Zach James, the chief executive of Movieclips, said the company is independent of any of the studios, but declined to reveal specifics of its partnerships or investors. According to filings, the company has raised $1.4 million.
Movieclips executives and backers are banking that it can turn movie clips into a business. The company intends to make money by running ads across the bottom of videos.
The site also will refer users to Internet retailers such as Amazon.com if they’re interested in buying full-length DVDs or digital downloads of the clips they just watched. Movieclips would then get a referral fee from the retailer for a successful sale.
James touted the site as a good way for younger viewers to discover classic movies they might not otherwise watch.
“How do you introduce older films like ‘Top Gun’ to a 15-year-old boy? That’s a hard thing to do,” James said. “But when you have a site like ours, that 15-year-old can come across a ‘Top Gun’ clip and say, ‘Wow, I’m going to go buy that now off Amazon.’ ”
Cash for Ace
Ace Metrix, an L.A.-based advertising software firm, announced last week that it had raised $6 million from investors.
Ace Metrix makes software that allows advertisers to measure the effectiveness of TV advertising. Clients can also use the software to adjust advertising buys and calculate how much money they are spending or saving through different ad placements.
The latest fundraising round was led by Leapfrog Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Palomar Ventures.
Company executives said in a statement that Ace Metrix would use the money to expand sales and marketing efforts.
Staff reporter Charles Proctor can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230.
