United Online hit as GM deal ends.United Online Inc.'s largest advertising contract is expiring and won't be renewed by General Motors Corp.--a loss that will hurt advertising revenues for the Westlake Village-based Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. in the coming months. The four-year marketing alliance, signed in January 2000 between GM and United Online predecessor NetZero Inc., was billed as being worth up to $100 million--including a potential GM investment. It never reached that amount--GM's spending totaled about $35 million through Sept. 30, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a United Online spokesman, but it remained important to the ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. . The relationship accounted for more than 50 percent of United Online's advertising revenues in the first quarter ended Sept. 30. In its most recent 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, United Online said it expects a significant drop-off in ad revenue in the first quarter ending March 31. (United Online recently switched to a calendar year.) The deal did provide benefits for GM. Placement on United Online, which runs the NetZero and Juno services, helped GM sell enough cars to generate a $1.5 million performance bonus in the third quarter. But the GM division that handled Internet advertising Delivering ads to Internet users via Web sites, e-mail, ad-supported software and Internet-enabled cellphones. Also called an "ad network," Internet advertising organizations act as a middleman between the advertiser and the Web sites and software publishers that display the ads. was dissolved last year. Advertising decisions are being made separately by each GM brand. "We had a central point of contact and an exclusive with them for four years," said Mark Goldston, United Online's chief executive. "Instead of calling on a central unit, now we'd have to develop numerous sales people." United Online is addressing the revenue loss by trying to find advertising deals with other car manufacturers and cut separate deals with GM's various brands. But the company will not dedicate ded·i·cate tr.v. ded·i·cat·ed, ded·i·cat·ing, ded·i·cates 1. To set apart for a deity or for religious purposes; consecrate. 2. additional resources to land business with GM's various divisions, Goldston said. Meantime, United Online has added new advertising relationships to make up for the expired GM deal. It restructured a two-year deal with Pasadena-based Overture overture, instrumental musical composition written as an introduction to an opera, ballet, oratorio, musical, or play. The earliest Italian opera overtures were simply pieces of orchestral music and were called sinfonie. Services Inc., a unit of Yahoo Inc., in October. United Online had been using Overture to generate ad listings based on the Internet searches its subscribers were conducting. The original deal was to expire in March 2004 but increased competition in the search industry and Yahoo's acquisition of Overture allowed United Online to negotiate a more favorable deal. Over the past two years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time company was approached by several competitors wanting to replace Overture as United Online's search provider, Goldston said. Instead of terminating the relationship, United Online used the leverage to renegotiate re·ne·go·ti·ate tr.v. re·ne·go·ti·at·ed, re·ne·go·ti·at·ing, re·ne·go·ti·ates 1. To negotiate anew. 2. To revise the terms of (a contract) so as to limit or regain excess profits gained by the contractor. the deal to include Yahoo's search technology. Now, a Yahoo search box appears in various sections of United Online's subscriber pages. "Yahoo pays us every time a search is generated at United Online," Goldston said. |
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