Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
Registration No. 333-163228

 

10,000,000 Shares

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

This is the initial public offering of our common stock. Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price of our common stock is $15.00 per share.

 

Our common stock has been approved for listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “QNST.”

 

The underwriters have an option to purchase a maximum of 1,500,000 additional shares of common stock from us to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10.

 

 

The underwriters have agreed to reimburse us for a portion of our out-of-pocket expenses.

 

Delivery of our shares of common stock will be made on or about February 17, 2010.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is February 10, 2010.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or contained in any free writing prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with additional information or information different from that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus filed with the SEC. We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, our common stock only in jurisdictions where such offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock.

 

For investors outside of the United States: Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

 

Until March 7, 2010 (25 days after commencement of this offering), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This delivery requirement is in addition to the obligation of dealers to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

	•	We own or access targeted media.
	•	We run advertisements or other forms of marketing messages and programs in that media to create visitor responses or clicks through to client offerings.
	•	We match these responses or clicks to client offerings or brands that meet visitor interests or needs, converting visitors into qualified leads or clicks.
	•	We optimize client matches and media yield such that we achieve desired results for clients and a sound financial outcome for us.

	•	Vertical focus and expertise
	•	Measurable marketing experience and expertise
	•	Targeted media
	•	Proprietary technology
	•	Client relationships
	•	Client-driven online marketing approach
	•	Acquisition strategy and success
	•	Scale

	•	Focus on generating sustainable revenues by providing measurable value to our clients.
	•	Build QuinStreet and our industry sustainably by behaving ethically in all we do and by providing quality content and website experiences to Internet visitors.
	•	Remain vertically focused, choosing to grow through depth, expertise and coverage in our current industry verticals; enter new verticals selectively over time, organically and through acquisitions.
	•	Build a world class organization, with best-in-class capabilities for delivering measurable marketing results to clients and high yields or returns on media costs.

	•	Develop and evolve the best technologies and platform for managing vertical marketing and media on the Internet; focus on technologies that enhance media yield, improve client results and achieve scale efficiencies.
	•	Build, buy and partner with vertical content websites that provide the most relevant and highest quality visitor experiences in the client and media verticals we serve.
	•	Be a client-driven organization; develop a broad set of media sources and capabilities to reliably meet client needs.

Common stock offered by QuinStreet		10,000,000 shares
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering		44,912,597 shares
Over-allotment option		1,500,000 shares
Use of proceeds		We expect the net proceeds to us from this offering, after deduction of the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, to be approximately $137.2 million. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to repay debt or to acquire other businesses, products or technologies. See “Use of Proceeds.”
Dividend policy		We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
Risk factors		See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock.
NASDAQ Global Select Market symbol		QNST
Financial advisor		Qatalyst Partners LP is acting as our financial advisor in connection with this offering. Qatalyst’s services consist of (i) analyzing our business, condition and financial position, (ii) preparing and implementing a plan for identifying and selecting appropriate participants in the underwriting syndicate, (iii) evaluating proposals that were received from potential underwriters, (iv) negotiating on our behalf the key terms of any contractual arrangements with members of the underwriting syndicate, and (v) determining various offering logistics. Qatalyst is not acting as an underwriter and will not sell or offer to sell any securities and will not identify, solicit or engage directly with potential investors. In addition, Qatalyst will not underwrite or purchase any of the offered securities or otherwise participate in any such undertaking.

	•	an aggregate of 11,504,767 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2009 pursuant to our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan and having a weighted-average exercise price of $9.3429 per share;
	•	an aggregate of 587,717 additional shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2009; provided, however, that immediately upon the execution and delivery of the underwriting agreement for this offering, our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan will terminate so that no further awards may be granted under our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan and the shares then remaining and reserved for future issuance under our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan shall become reserved for issuance under our 2010 Equity Incentive Plan; and

	•	the shares reserved for future issuance under our 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and up to 300,000 additional shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2010 Non-Employee Directors’ Stock Award Plan, as well as any automatic increases in the number of shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under each of these benefit plans, which will become effective immediately upon the execution and delivery of the underwriting agreement for this offering.

	•	the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our convertible preferred stock into an aggregate of 21,176,533 shares of common stock effective immediately prior to the closing of this offering;
	•	that our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which we will file in connection with the completion of this offering, is in effect; and
	•	no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 shares of common stock from us.

														Six Months
		Fiscal Year Ended June 30,												Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009				2008				2009
		(In thousands, except per share data)
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:
Net revenue		$	167,370			$	192,030			$	260,527			$	122,913			$	155,515
Cost of revenue(1)			108,945				130,869				181,593				88,250				111,604
Gross profit			58,425				61,161				78,934				34,663				43,911
Operating expenses:(1)
Product development			14,094				14,051				14,887				7,480				9,209
Sales and marketing			8,487				12,409				16,154				8,423				7,615
General and administrative			11,440				13,371				13,172				6,907				9,644
Total operating expenses			34,021				39,831				44,213				22,810				26,468
Operating income			24,404				21,330				34,721				11,853				17,443
Interest and other income (expense), net			1,034				413				(3,538	)			(1,933	)			(1,327	)
Income before income taxes			25,438				21,743				31,183				9,920				16,116
Provision for taxes			(9,828	)			(8,876	)			(13,909	)			(4,266	)			(7,193	)
Net income		$	15,610			$	12,867			$	17,274			$	5,654			$	8,923
Basic:
Less: 8% non-cumulative dividends on convertible preferred stock			(3,276	)			(3,276	)			(3,276	)			(1,638	)			(1,638	)
Undistributed earnings allocated to convertible preferred stock			(7,690	)			(5,925	)			(8,599	)			(2,468	)			(4,454	)
Net income attributable to common stockholders — basic		$	4,644			$	3,666			$	5,399			$	1,548			$	2,831
Diluted:
Net income attributable to common stockholders — basic		$	4,644			$	3,666			$	5,399			$	1,548			$	2,831
Undistributed earnings re-allocated to common stock			522				360				399				124				323
Net income attributable to common stockholders — diluted		$	5,166			$	4,026			$	5,798			$	1,672			$	3,154
Net income per share of common stock:
Basic		$	0.36			$	0.28			$	0.41			$	0.12			$	0.21
Diluted		$	0.34			$	0.26			$	0.39			$	0.11			$	0.20
Weighted average shares used in computing basic net income per share			12,789				13,104				13,294				13,282				13,463
Weighted average shares used in computing diluted net income per share			15,263				15,325				14,971				15,103				16,169

														Six Months
		Fiscal Year Ended June 30,												Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009				2008				2009
		(In thousands, except per share data)
Pro forma net income per share:
Basic										$	0.50							$	0.26
Diluted										$	0.48							$	0.24
Weighted average shares used in computing pro forma basic net income per share											34,471								34,640
Weighted average shares used in computing pro forma diluted net income per share											36,148								37,346

(1)		Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

Cost of revenue		$	416			$	1,112			$	1,916			$	1,007			$	1,490
Product development			75				443				669				318				884
Sales and marketing			226				581				1,761				897				1,341
General and administrative			1,354				1,086				1,827				688				3,378

		December 31, 2009
						Pro Forma as
		Actual				Adjusted(1)
		(In thousands)
Consolidated Balance Sheets Data:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	34,139			$	171,305
Working capital			31,527				168,693
Total assets			281,845				419,011
Total liabilities			147,410				147,410
Total debt			105,695				105,695
Total stockholders’ equity			91,032				271,601

(1)		The pro forma as adjusted consolidated balance sheet data gives effect to the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock effective immediately prior to the closing of this offering and to the sale of 10,000,000 shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

														Six Months
		Fiscal Year Ended June 30,												Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009				2008				2009
		(In thousands)
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Data:
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	25,197			$	24,751			$	32,570			$	9,371			$	16,077
Depreciation and amortization			9,637				11,727				15,978				8,351				8,603
Capital expenditures			2,030				2,177				1,347				821				1,035
														Six Months
		Fiscal Year Ended June 30,												Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009				2008				2009
		(In thousands)
Other Financial Data:
Adjusted EBITDA(1)		$	36,112			$	36,279			$	56,872			$	23,114			$	33,139

(1)

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income less interest income plus interest expense, provision for taxes, depreciation expense, amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense and foreign-exchange (loss) gain. Please see “— Adjusted EBITDA” for more information and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to our net income calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.

	•	Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures for capital equipment or other contractual commitments;
	•	although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements;
	•	Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
	•	Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the potentially dilutive impact of issuing equity-based compensation to our management team and employees;
	•	Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the significant interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
	•	Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect certain tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and
	•	other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA measures differently, which reduces their usefulness as a comparative measure.

														Six Months
		Fiscal Year Ended June 30,												Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009				2008				2009
		(In thousands)
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income:
Net income		$	15,610			$	12,867			$	17,274			$	5,654			$	8,923
Interest and other income (expense), net			(1,034	)			(413	)			3,538				1,933				1,327
Provision for taxes			9,828				8,876				13,909				4,266				7,193
Depreciation and amortization			9,637				11,727				15,978				8,351				8,603
Stock-based compensation expense			2,071				3,222				6,173				2,910				7,093
Adjusted EBITDA		$	36,112			$	36,279			$	56,872			$	23,114			$	33,139

 

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before you invest in our common stock, you should be aware that our business faces numerous financial and market risks, including those described below, as well as general economic and business risks. The following discussion provides information concerning the material risks and uncertainties that we have identified and believe may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Before you decide whether to invest in our common stock, you should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus.

 

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

 

We operate in an immature industry and have a relatively new business model, which makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects.

 

We derive nearly all of our revenue from the sale of online marketing and media services, which is an immature industry that has undergone rapid and dramatic changes in its short history. The industry in which we operate is characterized by rapidly-changing Internet media, evolving industry standards, and changing user and client demands. Our business model is also evolving and is distinct from many other companies in our industry, and it may not be successful. As a result of these factors, the future revenue and income potential of our business is uncertain. Although we have experienced significant revenue growth in recent periods, we may not be able to sustain current revenue levels or growth rates. Any evaluation of our business and our prospects must be considered in light of these factors and the risks and uncertainties often encountered by companies in an immature industry with an evolving business model such as ours. Some of these risks and uncertainties relate to our ability to:

 

 

If we are unable to address these risks, our business, results of operations and prospects could suffer.

 

If we do not effectively manage our growth, our operating performance will suffer and we may lose clients.

 

We have experienced rapid growth in our operations and operating locations, and we expect to experience continued growth in our business, both through acquisitions and internal growth. This growth has placed, and will continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. In particular, continued rapid growth and acquisitions may make it more difficult for us to accomplish the following:

 

 

 

In addition, our personnel, systems, procedures and controls may be inadequate to support our future operations. The improvements required to manage our growth will require us to make significant expenditures, expand, train and manage our employee base and allocate valuable management resources. If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our operating performance will suffer and we may lose clients, third-party website publishers and key personnel.

 

We depend upon Internet search companies to attract a significant portion of the visitors to our websites, and any change in the search companies’ search algorithms or perception of us or our industry could result in our websites being listed less prominently in either paid or algorithmic search result listings, in which case the number of visitors to our websites and our revenue could decline.

 

We depend in significant part on various Internet search companies, such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!, and other search websites to direct a significant number of visitors to our websites to provide our online marketing services to our clients. Search websites typically provide two types of search results, algorithmic and paid listings. Algorithmic, or organic, listings are determined and displayed solely by a set of formulas designed by search companies. Paid listings can be purchased and then are displayed if particular words are included in a user’s Internet search. Placement in paid listings is generally not determined solely on the bid price, but also takes into account the search engines’ assessment of the quality of website featured in the paid listing and other factors. We rely on both algorithmic and paid search results, as well as advertising on other websites, to direct a substantial share of the visitors to our websites.

 

Our ability to maintain the number of visitors to our websites from search websites and other websites is not entirely within our control. For example, Internet search websites frequently revise their algorithms in an attempt to optimize their search result listings or to maintain their internal standards and strategies. Changes in the algorithms could cause our websites to receive less favorable placements, which could reduce the number of users who visit our websites. We have experienced fluctuations in the search result rankings for a number of our websites. We may make decisions that are suboptimal regarding the purchase of paid listings or our proprietary bid management technologies may contain defects or otherwise fail to achieve their intended results, either of which could also reduce the number of visitors to our websites. We may also make decisions that are suboptimal regarding the placement of advertisements on other websites and pricing, which could increase our costs to attract such visitors or cause us to incur unnecessary costs. Our approaches may be deemed similar to those of our competitors and others in our industry that Internet search websites may consider to be unsuitable or unattractive. Internet search websites could deem our content to be unsuitable or below standards or less attractive or worthy than those of other or competing websites. In either such case, our websites may receive less favorable placement. Any reduction in the number of visitors to our websites would negatively affect our ability to earn revenue. If visits to our websites decrease, we may need to resort to more costly sources to replace lost visitors, and such increased expense could adversely affect our business and profitability.

 

Our future growth depends in part on our ability to identify and complete acquisitions.

 

Our growth over the past several years is in significant part due to the large number of acquisitions we have completed. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2007, we have completed over 100 acquisitions of third-party website publishing businesses and other businesses that are complementary to our own for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $189.5 million. We intend to pursue acquisitions of complementary businesses and technologies to expand our capabilities, client base and media. We have evaluated, and expect to continue to evaluate, a wide array of potential strategic transactions. However, we may not be successful in identifying suitable acquisition candidates or be able to complete acquisitions of such candidates. In addition, we may not be able to obtain financing on favorable terms, or at all, to fund acquisitions that we may wish to pursue.

Any acquisitions that we complete will involve a number of risks. If we are unable to address and resolve these risks successfully, such acquisitions could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

The anticipated benefit of any acquisitions that we complete may not materialize. In addition, the process of integrating acquired businesses or technologies may create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Some of the areas where we may face acquisition-related risks include:

 

 

Foreign acquisitions would involve risks in addition to those mentioned above, including those related to integration of operations across different cultures and languages, currency risks and the particular economic, political, administrative and management, and regulatory risks associated with specific countries. We may not be able to address these risks successfully, or at all, without incurring significant costs, delay or other operating problems. Our inability to resolve such risks could harm our business and results of operations.

 

A substantial portion of our revenue is generated from a limited number of clients and, if we lose a major client, our revenue will decrease and our business and prospects would be adversely impacted.

 

A substantial portion of our revenue is generated from a limited number of clients. Our top three clients accounted for 32% and 26% of our net revenue for the fiscal year 2009 and the first half of fiscal year 2010, respectively. Our clients can generally terminate their contracts with us at any time, with limited prior notice or penalty. DeVry Inc., our largest client, accounted for approximately 19% and 12% of our net revenue for fiscal year 2009 and the first half of fiscal year 2010, respectively. DeVry has recently retained an advertising agency and has reduced its purchases of leads from us. DeVry and other clients may reduce their current level of business with us, leading to lower revenue. We expect that a limited number of clients will continue to account for a significant percentage of our revenue, and the loss of, or material reduction in, their marketing spending with us could decrease our revenue and harm our business.

 

We are dependent on two market verticals for a majority of our revenue.

 

To date, we have generated a majority of our revenue from clients in our education vertical. We expect that a majority of our revenue in fiscal year 2010 will be generated from clients in our education and financial services verticals. A downturn in economic or market conditions adversely affecting the education industry or the financial services industry would negatively impact our business and financial condition. Over the past year, education marketing spending has remained relatively stable, but this stability may not continue. Marketing budgets for clients in our education vertical are impacted by a number of factors, including the availability of student financial aid, the regulation of for-profit financial institutions and economic conditions. Over the past year, some segments of the financial services industry, particularly mortgages, credit cards and deposits, have seen declines in marketing budgets given the difficult market conditions. These declines may continue or worsen. In addition, the education and financial services industries are highly regulated. Changes

in regulations or government actions may negatively impact our clients’ marketing practices and budgets and, therefore, adversely affect our financial results.

 

The United States Higher Education Act, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, provides that to be eligible to participate in Federal student financial aid programs, an educational institution must enter into a program participation agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Education. The agreement includes a number of conditions with which an institution must comply to be granted initial and continuing eligibility to participate. Among those conditions is a prohibition on institutions providing any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments to any individual or entity engaged in recruiting or admission activities. The regulations promulgated under the Higher Education Act specify a number of types of compensation, or “safe harbors,” that do not constitute incentive compensation in violation of this agreement. One of these safe harbors permits an institution to award incentive compensation for Internet-based recruitment and admission activities that provide information about the institution to prospective students, refer prospective students to the institution, or permit prospective students to apply for admission online. The U.S. Department of Education is currently engaged in a negotiated rulemaking process in which it has suggested repealing all existing safe harbors regarding incentive compensation in recruiting, including the Internet safe harbor. While we do not believe that compensation for services constitutes incentive compensation under the Higher Education Act, the elimination of the safe harbor could create uncertainty for our education clients and impact the way in which we are paid by our clients and, accordingly, could reduce the amount of net revenue we generate from the education client vertical.

 

In addition, some of our clients have had and may in the future have issues regarding their academic accreditation, which can adversely affect their ability to offer certain degree programs. If any of our significant education clients lose their accreditation, they may reduce or eliminate their marketing spending, which could adversely affect our financial results.

 

If we are unable to retain the members of our management team or attract and retain qualified management team members in the future, our business and growth could suffer.

 

Our success and future growth depend, to a significant degree, on the continued contributions of the members of our management team. Each member of our management team is an at-will employee and may voluntarily terminate his or her employment with us at any time with minimal notice. We also may need to hire additional management team members to adequately manage our growing business. We may not be able to retain or identify and attract additional qualified management team members. Competition for experienced management-level personnel in our industry is intense. Qualified individuals are in high demand, particularly in the Internet marketing industry, and we may incur significant costs to attract and retain them. If we lose the services of any of our senior managers or if we are unable to attract and retain additional qualified senior managers, our business and growth could suffer.

 

We need to hire and retain additional qualified personnel to grow and manage our business. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our business and growth could be seriously harmed.

 

Our performance depends on the talents and efforts of our employees. Our future success will depend on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled personnel in all areas of our organization and, in particular, in our engineering/technology, sales and marketing, media, finance and legal/regulatory teams. We plan to continue to grow our business and will need to hire additional personnel to support this growth. We have found it difficult from time to time to locate and hire suitable personnel. If we experience similar difficulties in the future, our growth may be hindered. Qualified individuals are in high demand, particularly in the Internet marketing industry, and we may incur significant costs to attract and retain them. Many of our employees have also become, or will soon become, substantially vested in their stock option grants. Employees may be more likely to leave us following our initial public offering as a result of the establishment of a public market for our common stock. If we are unable to attract and retain the personnel we need to succeed, our business and growth could be harmed.

We depend on third-party website publishers for a significant portion of our visitors, and any decline in the supply of media available through these websites or increase in the price of this media could cause our revenue to decline or our cost to reach visitors to increase.

 

A significant portion of our revenue is attributable to visitors originating from advertising placements that we purchase on third-party websites. In many instances, website publishers can change the advertising inventory they make available to us at any time and, therefore, impact our revenue. In addition, website publishers may place significant restrictions on our offerings. These restrictions may prohibit advertisements from specific clients or specific industries, or restrict the use of certain creative content or formats. If a website publisher decides not to make advertising inventory available to us, or decides to demand a higher revenue share or places significant restrictions on the use of such inventory, we may not be able to find advertising inventory from other websites that satisfy our requirements in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition, the number of competing online marketing service providers and advertisers that acquire inventory from websites continues to increase. Consolidation of Internet advertising networks and website publishers could eventually lead to a concentration of desirable inventory on a small number of websites or networks, which could limit the supply of inventory available to us or increase the price of inventory to us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire advertising inventory that meets our clients’ performance, price and quality requirements. If any of these things occur, our revenue could decline or our operating costs may increase.

 

We have incurred a significant amount of debt, which may limit our ability to fund general corporate requirements and obtain additional financing, limit our flexibility in responding to business opportunities and competitive developments and increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had an outstanding term loan with a principal balance of approximately $27.0 million and a revolving credit facility pursuant to which we can borrow up to an additional $100.0 million. As of December 31, 2009, we had drawn $49.8 million from our revolving credit facility. In January 2010, we replaced our existing credit facility with a credit facility with a total borrowing capacity of $175.0 million. The new facility consists of a $35.0 million four-year term loan, with principal amortization of 10%, 15%, 35% and 40% annually, and a $140.0 million four-year revolving credit facility. As of December 31, 2009, we also had outstanding notes to sellers arising from numerous acquisitions in the total principal amount of $29.8 million. As a result of our debt:

 

 

Our debt obligations may also impair our ability to obtain additional financing, if needed. Our indebtedness is secured by substantially all of our assets, leaving us with limited collateral for additional financing. Moreover, the terms of our indebtedness restrict our ability to take certain actions, including the incurrence of additional indebtedness, mergers and acquisitions, investments and asset sales. In addition, even if we are able to raise needed equity financing, we are required to use a portion of the net proceeds of certain types of equity financings to repay the outstanding balance of our term loan. A failure to pay interest or indebtedness when due could result in a variety of adverse consequences, including the acceleration of our indebtedness. In such a situation, it is unlikely that we would be able to fulfill our obligations under our credit facilities or repay the accelerated indebtedness or otherwise cover our costs.

 

The severe economic downturn in the United States poses additional risks to our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The United States has experienced, and is continuing to experience, a severe economic downturn. The credit crisis, deterioration of global economies, rising unemployment and reduced equity valuations all create risks that could harm our business. If macroeconomic conditions worsen, we are not able to predict the impact such worsening conditions will have on the online marketing industry in general, and our results of operations

specifically. Clients in particular verticals such as financial services, particularly mortgage, credit cards and deposits, small- to medium-sized business customers and home services are facing very difficult conditions and their marketing spend has been negatively affected. These conditions could also damage our business opportunities in existing markets, and reduce our revenue and profitability. While the effect of these and related conditions poses widespread risk across our business, we believe that it may particularly affect our efforts in the mortgage, credit cards and deposits, small- to medium-sized business and home services verticals, due to reduced availability of credit for households and business and reduced household disposable income. Economic conditions may not improve or may worsen.

 

Our operating results have fluctuated in the past and may do so in the future, which makes our results of operations difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall short of analysts’ and investors’ expectations.

 

While we have experienced continued revenue growth, our prior quarterly and annual operating results have fluctuated due to changes in our business, our industry and the general economic climate. Similarly, our future operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our fluctuating results could cause our performance to be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, causing the price of our common stock to fall. Because our business is changing and evolving, our historical operating results may not be useful to you in predicting our future operating results. Factors that may increase the volatility of our operating results include the following:

 

 

Our quarterly revenue and operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter due to seasonal fluctuations in advertising spending.

 

The timing of our revenue, particularly from our education client vertical, is affected by seasonal factors. For example, the first quarter of each fiscal year typically demonstrates seasonal strength and our second fiscal quarter typically demonstrates seasonal weakness. In our second fiscal quarter, our education clients often take fewer leads due to holiday staffing and lower availability of lead supply caused by higher media pricing for some forms of media during the holiday period, causing our revenue to be sequentially lower. Our fluctuating results could cause our performance to be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, causing the price of our common stock to fall. To the extent our rate of growth slows, we expect that the seasonality in our business may become more apparent and may in the future cause our operating results to fluctuate to a greater extent.

 

We may need additional capital in the future to meet our financial obligations and to pursue our business objectives. Additional capital may not be available or may not be available on favorable terms and our business and financial condition could therefore be adversely affected.

 

While we anticipate the net proceeds of this offering, together with availability under our existing credit facility, cash balances and cash from operations, will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months, we may need to raise additional capital to fund operations in the future or to finance acquisitions. If

we seek to raise additional capital in order to meet various objectives, including developing future technologies and services, increasing working capital, acquiring businesses and responding to competitive pressures, capital may not be available on favorable terms or may not be available at all. In addition, pursuant to the terms of our credit facility, we are required to use a portion of the net proceeds of any equity financing, other than this offering and any other public equity offerings, to repay the outstanding balance of our term loan. Lack of sufficient capital resources could significantly limit our ability to take advantage of business and strategic opportunities. Any additional capital raised through the sale of equity or debt securities with an equity component would dilute our stock ownership. If adequate additional funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate material parts of our business strategy, including potential additional acquisitions or development of new technologies.

 

If we fail to compete effectively against other online marketing and media companies and other competitors, we could lose clients and our revenue may decline.

 

The market for online marketing is intensely competitive. We expect this competition to continue to increase in the future. We perceive only limited barriers to entry to the online marketing industry. We compete both for clients and for limited high quality advertising inventory. We compete for clients on the basis of a number of factors, including return on marketing expenditures, price, and client service.

 

We compete with Internet and traditional media companies for a share of clients’ overall marketing budgets, including:

 

 

Competition for web traffic among websites and search engines, as well as competition with traditional media companies, could result in significant price pressure, declining margins, reductions in revenue and loss of market share. In addition, as we continue to expand the scope of our services, we may compete with a greater number of websites, clients and traditional media companies across an increasing range of different services, including in vertical markets where competitors may have advantages in expertise, brand recognition and other areas. Large Internet companies with brand recognition, such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL, have significant numbers of direct sales personnel and substantial proprietary advertising inventory and web traffic that provide a significant competitive advantage and have significant impact on pricing for Internet advertising and web traffic. The trend toward consolidation in the Internet advertising arena may also affect pricing and availability of advertising inventory and web traffic. Many of our current and potential competitors also enjoy other competitive advantages over us, such as longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, larger client bases, greater access to advertising inventory on high-traffic websites, and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources. As a result, we may not be able to compete successfully. If we fail to deliver results that are superior to those that other online marketing service providers achieve, we could lose clients and our revenue may decline.

If the market for online marketing services fails to continue to develop, our future growth may be limited and our revenue may decrease.

 

The online marketing services market is relatively new and rapidly evolving, and it uses different measurements than traditional media to gauge its effectiveness. Some of our current or potential clients have little or no experience using the Internet for advertising and marketing purposes and have allocated only limited portions of their advertising and marketing budgets to the Internet. The adoption of Internet advertising, particularly by those entities that have historically relied upon traditional media for advertising, requires the acceptance of a new way of conducting business, exchanging information and evaluating new advertising and marketing technologies and services. In particular, we are dependent on our clients’ adoption of new metrics to measure the success of online marketing campaigns. We may also experience resistance from traditional advertising agencies who may be advising our clients. We cannot assure you that the market for online marketing services will continue to grow. If the market for online marketing services fails to continue to develop or develops more slowly than we anticipate, our ability to grow our business may be limited and our revenue may decrease.

 

Third-party website publishers can engage in unauthorized or unlawful acts that could subject us to significant liability or cause us to lose clients.

 

We generate a significant portion of our web visitors from media advertising that we purchase from third-party website publishers. Some of these publishers are authorized to display our clients’ brands, subject to contractual restrictions. In the past, some of our third-party website publishers have engaged in activities that certain of our clients have viewed as harmful to their brands, such as displaying outdated descriptions of a client’s offerings or outdated logos. Any activity by publishers that clients view as potentially damaging to their brands can harm our relationship with the client and cause the client to terminate its relationship with us, resulting in a loss of revenue. In addition, the law is unsettled on the extent of liability that an advertiser in our position has for the activities of third-party website publishers. We could be subject to costly litigation and, if we are unsuccessful in defending ourselves, damages for the unauthorized or unlawful acts of third-party website publishers.

 

Poor perception of our business or industry as a result of the actions of third parties could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our business is dependent on attracting a large number of visitors to our websites and providing leads and clicks to our clients, which depends in part on our reputation within the industry and with our clients. There are companies within our industry that regularly engage in activities that our clients’ customers may view as unlawful or inappropriate. These activities, such as spyware or deceptive promotions, by third parties may be seen by clients as characteristic of participants in our industry and, therefore, may have an adverse effect on the reputation of all participants in our industry, including us. Any damage to our reputation, including from publicity from legal proceedings against us or companies that work within our industry, governmental proceedings, consumer class action litigation, or the disclosure of information security breaches or private information misuse, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Because many of our client contracts can be cancelled by the client with little prior notice or penalty, the cancellation of one or more contracts could result in an immediate decline in our revenue.

 

We derive our revenue from contracts with our Internet marketing clients, most of which are cancelable with little or no prior notice. In addition, these contracts do not contain penalty provisions for cancellation before the end of the contract term. The non-renewal, renegotiation, cancellation, or deferral of large contracts, or a number of contracts that in the aggregate account for a significant amount of our revenue, is difficult to anticipate and could result in an immediate decline in our revenue.

 

Unauthorized access to or accidental disclosure of consumer personally-identifiable information that we collect may cause us to incur significant expenses and may negatively impact our credibility and business.

 

There is growing concern over the security of personal information transmitted over the Internet, consumer identity theft and user privacy. Despite our implementation of security measures, our computer systems may be

susceptible to electronic or physical computer break-ins, viruses and other disruptions and security breaches. Any perceived or actual unauthorized disclosure of personally-identifiable information regarding website visitors, whether through breach of our network by an unauthorized party, employee theft, misuse or error or otherwise, could harm our reputation, impair our ability to attract website visitors and attract and retain our clients, or subject us to claims or litigation arising from damages suffered by consumers, and thereby harm our business and operating results. In addition, we could incur significant costs in complying with the multitude of state, federal and foreign laws regarding the unauthorized disclosure of personal information.

 

If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property rights, our competitive position and business may suffer.

 

Our ability to compete effectively depends upon our proprietary systems and technology. We rely on trade secret, trademark and copyright law, confidentiality agreements, technical measures and patents to protect our proprietary rights. We currently have one patent application pending in the United States and no issued patents. Effective trade secret, copyright, trademark and patent protection may not be available in all countries where we currently operate or in which we may operate in the future. Some of our systems and technologies are not covered by any copyright, patent or patent application. We cannot guarantee that: (i) our intellectual property rights will provide competitive advantages to us; (ii) our ability to assert our intellectual property rights against potential competitors or to settle current or future disputes will not be limited by our agreements with third parties; (iii) our intellectual property rights will be enforced in jurisdictions where competition may be intense or where legal protection may be weak; (iv) any of the patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or other intellectual property rights that we presently employ in our business will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, or abandoned; (v) competitors will not design around our protected systems and technology; or (vi) that we will not lose the ability to assert our intellectual property rights against others.

 

We are a party to a number of third-party intellectual property license agreements and in the future, may need to obtain additional licenses or renew existing license agreements. We are unable to predict with certainty whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

 

We have from time to time become aware of third parties who we believe may have infringed on our intellectual property rights. The use of our intellectual property rights by others could reduce any competitive advantage we have developed and cause us to lose clients, third-party website publishers or otherwise harm our business. Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary rights can be difficult and costly. In addition, litigation, while it may be necessary to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights or to defend litigation brought against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention and could adversely affect our business, even if we are successful on the merits.

 

Confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information.

 

We have devoted substantial resources to the development of our proprietary systems and technology. In order to protect our proprietary systems and technology, we enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, independent contractors and other advisors. These agreements may not effectively prevent unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or unauthorized parties from copying aspects of our services or obtaining and using information that we regard as proprietary. Moreover, these agreements may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of such unauthorized disclosures of confidential information and we cannot assure you that our rights under such agreements will be enforceable. In addition, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such cases we could not assert any trade secret rights against such parties. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could reduce any competitive advantage we have and cause us to lose clients, publishers or otherwise harm our business.

Third parties may sue us for intellectual property infringement which, if successful, could require us to pay significant damages or curtail our offerings.

 

We cannot be certain that our internally-developed or acquired systems and technologies do not and will not infringe the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, we license content, software and other intellectual property rights from third parties and may be subject to claims of infringement if such parties do not possess the necessary intellectual property rights to the products they license to us. We have in the past and may in the future be subject to legal proceedings and claims that we have infringed the patent or other intellectual property rights of a third-party. These claims sometimes involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product revenue and against whom our own patents, if any, may therefore provide little or no deterrence. In addition, third parties have asserted and may in the future assert intellectual property infringement claims against our clients, which we have agreed in certain circumstances to indemnify and defend against such claims. Any intellectual property related infringement claims, whether or not meritorious, could result in costly litigation and could divert management resources and attention. Moreover, should we be found liable for infringement, we may be required to enter into licensing agreements, if available on acceptable terms or at all, pay substantial damages, or limit or curtail our systems and technologies. Moreover, we may need to redesign some of our systems and technologies to avoid future infringement liability. Any of the foregoing could prevent us from competing effectively and increase our costs.

 

Additionally, the laws relating to use of trademarks on the Internet are currently unsettled, particularly as they apply to search engine functionality. For example, other Internet marketing and search companies have been sued in the past for trademark infringement and other intellectual property-related claims for the display of ads or search results in response to user queries that include trademarked terms. The outcomes of these lawsuits have differed from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For this reason, it is conceivable that certain of our activities could expose us to trademark infringement, unfair competition, misappropriation or other intellectual property related claims which could be costly to defend and result in substantial damages or otherwise limit or curtail our activities, and adversely affect our business or prospects.

 

Our proprietary technologies may include design or performance defects and may not achieve their intended results, either of which could impair our future revenue growth.

 

Our proprietary technologies are relatively new, and they may contain design or performance defects that are not yet apparent. The use of our proprietary technologies may not achieve the intended results as effectively as other technologies that exist now or may be introduced by our competitors, in which case our business could be harmed.

 

If we are unable to price our services appropriately, our margins and revenue may decline.

 

Our clients purchase our services according to a variety of pricing formulae, the vast majority of which are based on pay for performance, meaning clients pay only after we have delivered the desired result to them. Regardless of how a given client pays us, we ordinarily pay the vast majority of the costs associated with delivering our services to our clients according to contracts and other arrangements that do not always condition payment to vendors upon receipt of payments from our clients. This means we typically pay for the costs of providing our marketing services before we receive payment from clients. Additionally, certain of our marketing services costs are highly variable and may fluctuate significantly during each calendar month. Accordingly, we run the risk of not being able to recover the entire cost of our services from clients if pricing or other terms negotiated prior to the performance of services prove less than the cost of performing such services. We have experienced situations in the past where we incurred losses in the delivery of our services to specific clients. If we are unable to avoid recurrence of similar situations in the future through negotiation of profitable pricing and other terms, our results of operations will suffer.

 

If we fail to keep pace with rapidly-changing technologies and industry standards, we could lose clients or advertising inventory and our results of operations may suffer.

 

The business lines in which we currently compete are characterized by rapidly-changing Internet media and marketing standards, changing technologies, frequent new product and service introductions, and changing

user and client demands. The introduction of new technologies and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices could render our existing technologies and services obsolete and unmarketable or require unanticipated investments in technology. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to adapt to these rapidly-changing Internet media formats and other technologies. We will need to enhance our existing technologies and services and develop and introduce new technologies and services to address our clients’ changing demands. If we fail to adapt successfully to such developments or timely introduce new technologies and services, we could lose clients, our expenses could increase and we could lose advertising inventory.

 

Changes in government regulation and industry standards applicable to the Internet and our business could decrease demand for our technologies and services or increase our costs.

 

Laws and regulations that apply to Internet communications, commerce and advertising are becoming more prevalent. These regulations could increase the costs of conducting business on the Internet and could decrease demand for our technologies and services.

 

In the United States, federal and state laws have been enacted regarding copyrights, sending of unsolicited commercial email, user privacy, search engines, Internet tracking technologies, direct marketing, data security, children’s privacy, pricing, sweepstakes, promotions, intellectual property ownership and infringement, trade secrets, export of encryption technology, taxation and acceptable content and quality of goods. Other laws and regulations may be adopted in the future. Laws and regulations, including those related to privacy and use of personal information, are changing rapidly outside the United States as well which may make compliance with such laws and regulations difficult and which may negatively affect our ability to expand internationally. This legislation could: (i) hinder growth in the use of the Internet generally; (ii) decrease the acceptance of the Internet as a communications, commercial and advertising medium; (iii) reduce our revenue; (iv) increase our operating expenses; or (v) expose us to significant liabilities.

 

The laws governing the Internet remain largely unsettled, even in areas where there has been some legislative action. While we actively monitor this changing legal and regulatory landscape to stay abreast of changes in the laws and regulations applicable to our business, we are not certain how our business might be affected by the application of existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, copyrights, encryption and other intellectual property issues, libel, obscenity and export or import matters to the Internet advertising industry. The vast majority of such laws were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet. As a result, they do not contemplate or address the unique issues of the Internet and related technologies. Changes in laws intended to address such issues could create uncertainty in the Internet market. It may take years to determine how existing laws apply to the Internet and Internet marketing. Such uncertainty makes it difficult to predict costs and could reduce demand for our services or increase the cost of doing business as a result of litigation costs or increased service delivery costs.

 

In particular, a number of U.S. federal laws impact our business. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, is intended, in part, to limit the liability of eligible online service providers for listing or linking to third-party websites that include materials that infringe copyrights or other rights. Portions of the Communications Decency Act, or CDA, are intended to provide statutory protections to online service providers who distribute third-party content. We rely on the protections provided by both the DMCA and CDA in conducting our business. In addition, the United States Higher Education Act provides that to be eligible to participate in Federal student financial aid programs, an educational institution must enter into a program participation agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Education. The agreement includes a number of conditions with which an institution must comply to be granted initial and continuing eligibility to participate. Among those conditions is a prohibition on institutions providing any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments to any individual or entity engaged in recruiting or admission activities. The regulations promulgated under the Higher Education Act specify a number of types of compensation, or “safe harbors,” that do not constitute incentive compensation in violation of this agreement. One of these safe harbors permits an institution to award incentive compensation for Internet-based recruitment and admission activities that provide information about the institution to prospective students, refer prospective students to the institution, or permit prospective students to apply for

admission online. The U.S. Department of Education is currently engaged in a negotiated rulemaking process in which it has suggested repealing all existing safe harbors regarding incentive compensation in recruiting, including the Internet safe harbor. Any changes in these laws or judicial interpretations narrowing their protections will subject us to greater risk of liability and may increase our costs of compliance with these regulations or limit our ability to operate certain lines of business.

 

The financial services, education and medical industries are highly regulated and our marketing activities on behalf of our clients in those industries are also regulated. For example, our mortgage websites and marketing services we offer are subject to various federal, state and local laws, including state mortgage broker licensing laws, federal and state laws prohibiting unfair acts and practices, and federal and state advertising laws. Any failure to comply with these laws and regulations could subject us to revocation of required licenses, civil, criminal or administrative liability, damage to our reputation or changes to or limitations on the conduct of our business. Any of the foregoing could cause our business, operations and financial condition to suffer.

 

New tax treatment of companies engaged in Internet commerce may adversely affect the commercial use of our marketing services and our financial results.

 

Due to the global nature of the Internet, it is possible that, although our services and the Internet transmissions related to them originate in California and Nevada, and in some cases, England, governments of other states or foreign countries might attempt to regulate our transmissions or levy sales, income or other taxes relating to our activities. We have experienced certain states taking expansive positions with regard to their taxation of our services. Tax authorities at the international, federal, state and local levels are currently reviewing the appropriate tax treatment of companies engaged in Internet commerce. New or revised state tax regulations may subject us or our affiliates to additional state sales, income and other taxes. We cannot predict the effect of current attempts to impose sales, income or other taxes on commerce over the Internet. New or revised taxes and, in particular, sales taxes, would likely increase the cost of doing business online and decrease the attractiveness of advertising and selling goods and services over the Internet. New taxes could also create significant increases in internal costs necessary to capture data, and collect and remit taxes. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

Limitations on our ability to collect and use data derived from user activities could significantly diminish the value of our services and cause us to lose clients and revenue.

 

When a user visits our websites, we use technologies, including “cookies”, to collect information such as the user’s Internet Protocol, or IP, address, offerings delivered by us that have been previously viewed by the user and responses by the user to those offerings. In order to determine the effectiveness of a marketing campaign and to determine how to modify the campaign, we need to access and analyze this information. The use of cookies has been the subject of regulatory scrutiny and users are able to block or delete cookies from their browser. Periodically, certain of our clients and publishers seek to prohibit or limit our collection or use of this data. Interruptions, failures or defects in our data collection systems, as well as privacy concerns regarding the collection of user data, could also limit our ability to analyze data from our clients’ marketing campaigns. This risk is heightened when we deliver marketing services to clients in the financial and medical services client verticals. If our access to data is limited in the future, we may be unable to provide effective technologies and services to clients and we may lose clients and revenue.

 

As a creator and a distributor of Internet content, we face potential liability and expenses for legal claims based on the nature and content of the materials that we create or distribute. If we are required to pay damages or expenses in connection with these legal claims, our operating results and business may be harmed.

 

We create original content for our websites and marketing messages and distribute third-party content on our websites and in our marketing messages. As a creator and distributor of original content and third-party provided content, we face potential liability based on a variety of theories, including defamation, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement or other legal theories based on the nature, creation or distribution of this information. It is also possible that our website visitors could make claims against us for losses incurred in

reliance upon information provided on our websites. In addition, as the number of users of forums and social media features on our websites increases, we could be exposed to liability in connection with material posted to our websites by users and other third parties. These claims, whether brought in the United States or abroad, could divert management time and attention away from our business and result in significant costs to investigate and defend, regardless of the merit of these claims. In addition, if we become subject to these types of claims and are not successful in our defense, we may be forced to pay substantial damages.

 

Wireless devices and mobile phones are increasingly being used to access the Internet, and our online marketing services may not be as effective when accessed through these devices, which could cause harm to our business.

 

The number of people who access the Internet through devices other than personal computers has increased substantially in the last few years. Our online marketing services were designed for persons accessing the Internet on a desktop or laptop computer. The smaller screens, lower resolution graphics and less convenient typing capabilities of these devices may make it more difficult for visitors to respond to our offerings. In addition, the cost of mobile advertising is relatively high and may not be cost-effective for our services. If our services continue to be less effective or economically attractive for clients seeking to engage in marketing through these devices and this segment of web traffic grows at the expense of traditional computer Internet access, we will experience difficulty attracting website visitors and attracting and retaining clients and our operating results and business will be harmed.

 

We may not succeed in expanding our businesses outside the United States, which may limit our future growth.

 

One potential area of growth for us is in the international markets. However, we have limited experience in marketing, selling and supporting our services outside of the United States and we may not be successful in introducing or marketing our services abroad. There are risks inherent in conducting business in international markets, such as:

 

 

If we are unable to successfully expand and market our services abroad, our business and future growth may be harmed and we may incur costs that may not lead to future revenue.

 

We rely on Internet bandwidth and data center providers and other third parties for key aspects of the process of providing services to our clients, and any failure or interruption in the services and products provided by these third parties could harm our business.

 

We rely on third-party vendors, including data center and Internet bandwidth providers. Any disruption in the network access or co-location services provided by these third-party providers or any failure of these third-party providers to handle current or higher volumes of use could significantly harm our business. Any financial or other difficulties our providers face may have negative effects on our business, the nature and extent of which we cannot predict. We exercise little control over these third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with the services they provide. We license technology and related databases from third parties to facilitate analysis and storage of data and delivery of offerings. We have experienced interruptions and delays in service and availability for data centers, bandwidth and other technologies in the

past. Any errors, failures, interruptions or delays experienced in connection with these third-party technologies and services could adversely affect our business and could expose us to liabilities to third parties.

 

Our systems also heavily depend on the availability of electricity, which also comes from third-party providers. If we or third-party data centers which we utilize were to experience a major power outage, we would have to rely on back-up generators. These back-up generators may not operate properly through a major power outage and their fuel supply could also be inadequate during a major power outage or disruptive event. Furthermore, we do not currently have backup generators at our Foster City, California headquarters. Information systems such as ours may be disrupted by even brief power outages, or by the fluctuations in power resulting from switches to and from back-up generators. This could give rise to obligations to certain of our clients which could have an adverse effect on our results for the period of time in which any disruption of utility services to us occurs.

 

Interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems could impair our ability to effectively deliver our services, which could cause us to lose clients and harm our operating results.

 

Our delivery of marketing and media services depends on the continuing operation of our technology infrastructure and systems. Any damage to or failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our ability to deliver offerings quickly and accurately and/or process visitors’ responses emanating from our various web presences. Interruptions in our service could reduce our revenue and profits, and our reputation could be damaged if people believe our systems are unreliable. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, terrorist attacks, floods, fires, power loss, break-ins, hardware or software failures, telecommunications failures, computer viruses or other attempts to harm our systems, and similar events.

 

We lease or maintain server space in various locations, including in San Francisco, California. Our California facilities are located in areas with a high risk of major earthquakes. Our facilities are also subject to break-ins, sabotage and intentional acts of vandalism, and to potential disruptions if the operators of these facilities have financial difficulties. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. The occurrence of a natural disaster, a decision to close a facility we are using without adequate notice for financial reasons or other unanticipated problems at our facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our service.

 

Any unscheduled interruption in our service would result in an immediate loss of revenue. If we experience frequent or persistent system failures, the attractiveness of our technologies and services to clients and website publishers could be permanently harmed. The steps we have taken to increase the reliability and redundancy of our systems are expensive, reduce our operating margin, and may not be successful in reducing the frequency or duration of unscheduled interruptions.

 

Any constraints on the capacity of our technology infrastructure could delay the effectiveness of our operations or result in system failures, which would result in the loss of clients and harm our business and results of operations.

 

Our future success depends in part on the efficient performance of our software and technology infrastructure. As the numbers of websites and Internet users increase, our technology infrastructure may not be able to meet the increased demand. A sudden and unexpected increase in the volume of user responses could strain the capacity of our technology infrastructure. Any capacity constraints we experience could lead to slower response times or system failures and adversely affect the availability of websites and the level of user responses received, which could result in the loss of clients or revenue or harm to our business and results of operations.

 

We could lose clients if we fail to detect click-through or other fraud on advertisements in a manner that is acceptable to our clients.

 

We are exposed to the risk of fraudulent clicks or actions on our websites or our third-party publishers’ websites. We may in the future have to refund revenue that our clients have paid to us and that was later attributed to, or suspected to be caused by, fraud. Click-through fraud occurs when an individual clicks on an

ad displayed on a website or an automated system is used to create such clicks with the intent of generating the revenue share payment to the publisher rather than to view the underlying content. Action fraud occurs when on-line forms are completed with false or fictitious information in an effort to increase the compensable actions in respect of which a web publisher is to be compensated. From time to time we have experienced fraudulent clicks or actions and we do not charge our clients for such fraudulent clicks or actions when they are detected. It is conceivable that this activity could negatively affect our profitability, and this type of fraudulent act could hurt our reputation. If fraudulent clicks or actions are not detected, the affected clients may experience a reduced return on their investment in our marketing programs, which could lead the clients to become dissatisfied with our campaigns, and in turn, lead to loss of clients and the related revenue. Additionally, we have from time to time had to terminate relationships with web publishers who we believed to have engaged in fraud and we may have to do so in future. Termination of such relationships entails a loss of revenue associated with the legitimate actions or clicks generated by such web publishers.

 

We will incur significant increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, which may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

 

As a public company, we will incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We will incur costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. We also anticipate that we will incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and The NASDAQ Global Market. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Furthermore, these laws and regulations could make it more difficult or more costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

 

In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. In particular, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, we must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404. Our compliance with Section 404 will require that we incur substantial expense and expend significant management time on compliance-related issues.

 

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired, which would adversely affect our ability to operate our business.

 

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. We may in the future discover areas of our internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that need improvement. Our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected. If we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls, we may not be able to produce accurate financial

statements on a timely basis, which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and could result in regulatory action.

 

Risks Related to This Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

 

Our stock price may be volatile, and you may not be able to resell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid.

 

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for shares of our common stock, and an active public market for our shares may not develop or be sustained after this offering. We and the representatives of the underwriters have determined the offering price of our common stock through negotiation. This price does not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell our shares following this offering. In addition, the trading price of our common stock following this offering could be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include those discussed in this “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus and others such as:

 

 

In recent years, the stock market in general, and the market for technology and Internet-based companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. These fluctuations may be even more pronounced in the trading market for our stock shortly following this offering. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

 

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

 

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our stock would be negatively impacted. In the event we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

 

Our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders and their respective affiliates will continue to have substantial control over us after this offering and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

 

After this offering, our directors, executive officers and holders of more than 5% of our common stock, together with their affiliates, will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 59% of our outstanding

common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in this offering. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, will continue to have substantial control over the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, will continue to have significant influence over the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership may have the effect of:

 

 

Future sales of shares by existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.

 

If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intent to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after the 180-day contractual lock-up, which period may be extended in certain limited circumstances, and other legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the trading price of our common stock could decline significantly and could decline below the initial public offering price. Based on shares outstanding as of December 31, 2009, upon the completion of this offering, we will have outstanding 44,912,597 shares of common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding options. Of these shares, 10,000,000 shares of common stock, plus any shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, will be immediately freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market. The underwriters may, in their sole discretion, permit our officers, directors, employees and current stockholders to sell shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements.

 

After the lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering expire and based on shares outstanding as of December 31, 2009, the remaining 34,912,597 shares will be eligible for sale in the public market. In addition, (i) the 11,504,767 shares subject to outstanding options under our equity incentive plans as of December 31, 2009 and (ii) the shares reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans will become eligible for sale in the public market in the future, subject to certain legal and contractual limitations. If these additional shares are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the price of our common stock could decline substantially.

 

Purchasers of common stock in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment.

 

The initial offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the expected net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur an immediate dilution of $13.15 in net tangible book value per share from the price you paid, based on our shares outstanding as of December 31, 2009. In addition, following this offering, purchasers in the offering will have contributed approximately 77% of the total consideration paid by stockholders to us to purchase shares of our common stock, based on our shares outstanding as of December 31, 2009. In addition, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares or if outstanding options are exercised, you will experience further dilution. For a further description of the dilution that you will experience immediately after this offering, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Dilution.”

 

We have broad discretion to determine how to use the funds raised in this offering, and may use them in ways that may not enhance our operating results or the price of our common stock.

 

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering, and we could spend the proceeds from this offering in ways our stockholders may not agree with or that do not yield a favorable return. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to make repayments on our debt or acquire other businesses, products or technologies. If we do not invest or apply the proceeds of

this offering in ways that improve our operating results, we may fail to achieve expected financial results, which could cause our stock price to decline.

 

Provisions in our charter documents following this offering, under Delaware law and in contractual obligations, could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable and may lead to entrenchment of management.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws that will be in effect as of the closing of this offering will contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions will include:

 

 

We are subject to certain anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not, in general, engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the board of directors has approved the transaction. For a description of our capital stock, see “Description of Capital Stock.”

 

We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.

 

We do not intend to declare and pay dividends on our capital stock for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Additionally, the terms of our credit facility restrict our ability to pay dividends. Therefore, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your common stock for the foreseeable future.

 

 

This prospectus, particularly in the sections titled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business,” contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our future financial condition, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described under the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus, regarding, among other things:

 

 

These risks are not exhaustive. Other sections of this prospectus may include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risk and uncertainties. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly-changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

 

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

 

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement on Form S-1, of which this prospectus is a part, that we have filed with the SEC with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

 

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $137.2 million, or approximately $158.1 million if the underwriters exercise their right to purchase additional shares of common stock from us to cover over-allotments in full, and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

 

We currently intend to use our net proceeds from this offering for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to repay debt, including our credit facility, or acquire other businesses, products or technologies.

 

The expected use of net proceeds of this offering represents our current intentions based upon our present plans and business conditions. The amounts we actually expend in these areas may vary significantly from our current intentions and will depend upon a number of factors, including future sales growth, success of our engineering efforts, cash generated from future operations, if any, and actual expenses to operate our business. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received upon the closing of this offering. Accordingly, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds of this offering.

 

The amount and timing of our expenditures will depend on several factors, including the amount and timing of our spending on sales and marketing activities and research and development activities, as well as our use of cash for other corporate activities. Pending the uses described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation instruments, including short-term, interest-bearing, investment grade instruments, certificates of deposit or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government.

 

 

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to support our operations and finance the growth and development of our business. We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination related to dividend policy will be made at the discretion of our board of directors. The loan agreement for our credit facility contains a prohibition on the payout of cash dividends.

 

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents, current debt and capitalization as of December 31, 2009 (unaudited):

 

 

You should read the information in this table together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

The outstanding share information in the table above is based on 34,912,597 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009, and excludes:

 

 

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering. As of December 31, 2009, our pro forma net tangible book value was $(54.1 million), or $(1.55) per share of common stock. Our pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets reduced by the amount of our total liabilities and divided by the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009, after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock immediately prior to the closing of this offering. After giving effect to our sale in this offering of 10,000,000 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2009 would have been approximately $83.1 million, or $1.85 per share. This represents an immediate increase of net tangible book value of $3.40 per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $13.15 per share to investors purchasing common stock in this offering. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:

 

 

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us in full in this offering, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after the offering would be $2.24 per share, the increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to existing stockholders would be $3.79 per share and the dilution to new investors purchasing shares in this offering would be $12.76 per share.

 

The following table summarizes on a pro forma as adjusted basis as of December 31, 2009:

 

 

 

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, our existing stockholders would own 75% and our new investors would own 25% of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering. The total consideration paid to us by our existing

stockholders would be approximately $44.5 million, or 21%, and the total consideration paid to us by our new investors would be $172.5 million, or 79%.

 

If all outstanding options under our equity incentive plans were exercised, then our existing stockholders, including the holders of these options, would own 82% and our new investors would own 18% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the closing of this offering. In such event, the total consideration paid by our existing stockholders, including the holders of these options, would be approximately $152.0 million, or 50%, the total consideration paid by our new investors would be $150.0 million, or 50%, the average price per share paid by our existing stockholders would be $3.28 and the average price per share paid by our new investors would be $15.00.

 

The above discussion and tables are based on 34,912,597 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009, and excludes:

 

 

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected consolidated financial data in this section is not intended to replace our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our future results and our interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected for the full fiscal year.

 

We derived the consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the consolidated balance sheets data as of June 30, 2008 and 2009 from our audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2005 and 2006 and the consolidated balance sheets data as of June 30, 2005, 2006 and 2007 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are not included in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the six months ended December 31, 2008 and 2009 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 are derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this prospectus, particularly in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

 

Overview

 

QuinStreet is a leader in vertical marketing and media on the Internet. We have built a strong set of capabilities to engage Internet visitors with targeted media and to connect our marketing clients with their potential customers online. We focus on serving clients in large, information-intensive industry verticals where relevant, targeted media and offerings help visitors make informed choices, find the products that match their needs, and thus become qualified customer prospects for our clients.

 

We deliver cost-effective marketing results to our clients, predictably and scalably, most typically in the form of a qualified lead or click. These leads or clicks can then convert into a customer or sale for the client at a rate that results in an acceptable marketing cost to them. We get paid by clients primarily when we deliver qualified leads or clicks as defined by our agreements with them. Because we bear the costs of media, our programs must deliver a value to our clients and a media yield, or our ability to generate an acceptable margin on our media costs, that provides a sound financial outcome for us. Our general process is:

 

 

Our primary financial objective has been and remains creating revenue growth, from sustainable sources, at target levels of profitability. Our primary financial objective is not to maximize profits, but rather to achieve target levels of profitability while investing in various growth initiatives, as we believe we are in the early stages of a large, long-term market. We have been successful in increasing revenue each year since our inception. We became profitable in 2002 and have remained so since that time.

 

Our Direct Marketing Services, or DMS, business accounted for 95%, 98%, 99% and 99% of our net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. Our DMS business derives substantially all of its net revenue from fees earned through the delivery of qualified leads and clicks to our clients. Through a deep vertical focus, targeted media presence and our technology platform, we are able to reliably deliver targeted, measurable marketing results to our clients.

 

Our two largest client verticals are education and financial services. Our education vertical has historically been our largest vertical, representing 78%, 74%, 58% and 49% of net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. DeVry Inc., a for-profit education company and our largest client, accounted for 22%, 23%, 19%, and 12% of total net revenue for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. Our financial services vertical, which we have grown both organically and through acquisitions, represented 7%, 11%, 31% and 41% of net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. Other DMS verticals, consisting primarily of home services, business-to-business, or B2B, and

healthcare, represented 10%, 13%, 10% and 9% of net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively.

 

In addition, we derived 5%, 2%, 1% and 1% of our net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively, from the provision of a hosted solution and related services for clients in the direct selling industry, also referred to as our Direct Selling Services, or DSS, business.

 

We have generated substantially all of our revenue from sales to clients in the United States.

 

We are subject to economic or business factors that affect our client verticals. For instance, presently, clients in particular verticals such as financial services, particularly mortgage, credit cards and deposits, small- to medium-sized business customers and home services are facing very difficult conditions and their marketing spending has been negatively affected. In general, we address challenges created by these adverse economic or business conditions by shifting investment and resources to other client verticals that might be less challenged or by focusing on opportunities with specific clients and subsets of client verticals that might be less affected by those challenges. However, we also invest in client verticals that may face near-term challenges but present long-term growth potential.

 

We face an additional challenge with regard to DeVry, our largest client, which accounted for approximately 19% and 12% of our net revenue for fiscal year 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. DeVry has recently retained an advertising agency and has reduced its purchases of leads from us. We have been addressing this challenge by working with DeVry and the agency to understand their evolving needs and strategies and how we can best serve them going forward. In addition, we have been expanding our business with other clients in our education client vertical. We are also expanding our client base in education to replace visitor matches previously delivered to DeVry.

 

Trends Affecting our Business

 

Seasonality

 

Our results from our education client vertical are subject to significant fluctuation as a result of seasonality. In particular, our quarters ending December 31 (our second fiscal quarter) typically demonstrate seasonal weakness. In those quarters, there is lower availability of lead supply from some forms of media during the holiday period and our education clients often request fewer leads due to holiday staffing. In our quarters ending March 31, this trend generally reverses with better lead availability and often new budgets at the beginning of the year for our clients with financial years ending December 31. For example, in the quarters ended December 31, 2008 and 2009 net revenue from our education clients declined 13% and 10%, respectively, from the previous quarter.

 

Acquisitions

 

Beginning in fiscal year 2008, we executed on our strategy to increase the depth within our existing verticals and diversify our business among these verticals by substantially increasing our spending on acquisitions of businesses and technologies. For example, in February 2008, we acquired ReliableRemodeler.com, Inc., or ReliableRemodeler, an Oregon-based company specializing in online home renovation and contractor referrals for $17.5 million in cash and $8.0 million in non-interest-bearing, unsecured promissory notes, in an effort to increase our presence within our home services vertical. In April 2008, we acquired Cyberspace Communication Corporation, an Oklahoma-based online marketing company doing business as SureHits, for $27.5 million in cash and $18.0 million in potential earn-out payments, in an effort to increase our presence within the financial services vertical. During fiscal years 2008 and 2009, in addition to the acquisitions mentioned above, we acquired an aggregate of 21 and 34 online publishing businesses, respectively.

 

In October 2009, we acquired the website business Insure.com from Life Quote, Inc. for $15.0 million in cash and a $1.0 million non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note. In November 2009, we acquired the website assets of the Internet.com division of WebMediaBrands, Inc. for $16.0 million in cash and a $2.0 million non-interest-bearing, unsecured promissory note.

 

Our acquisition strategy may result in significant fluctuations in our available working capital from period to period and over the years. We may use cash, stock or promissory notes to acquire various businesses or technologies, and we cannot accurately predict the timing of those acquisitions or the impact on our cash flows and balance sheet. Large acquisitions or multiple acquisitions within a particular period may significantly impact our financial results for that period. We may utilize debt financing to make acquisitions, which could give rise to higher interest expense and more restrictive operating covenants. We may also utilize our stock as consideration, which could result in substantial dilution.

 

Client Verticals

 

To date, we have generated the majority of our revenue from clients in our educational vertical. We expect that a majority of our revenue in fiscal year 2010 will be generated from clients in our education and financial services client verticals. A downturn in economic or market conditions adversely affecting the education industry or the financial services industry would negatively impact our business and financial condition. Over the past year, education marketing spending has remained relatively stable, but we cannot assure you that this stability will continue. Marketing budgets for clients in our education vertical are impacted by a number of factors, including the availability of student financial aid, the regulation of for-profit financial institutions and economic conditions. Over the past year, some segments of the financial services industry, particularly mortgages, credit cards and deposits, have seen declines in marketing budgets given the difficult market conditions. These declines may continue or worsen. In addition, the education and financial services industries are highly regulated. Changes in regulations or government actions may negatively impact our clients’ marketing practices and budgets and, therefore, adversely affect our financial results.

 

Development and Acquisition of Vertical Media

 

One of the primary challenges of our business is finding or creating media that is targeted enough to attract prospects economically for our clients and at costs that work for our business model. In order to continue to grow our business, we must be able to continue to find or develop quality vertical media on a cost-effective basis. Our inability to find or develop vertical media could impair our growth or adversely affect our financial performance.

 

Basis of Presentation

 

General

 

We operate in two segments: DMS and DSS. For further discussion or financial information about our reporting segments, see Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in this prospectus.

 

Net Revenue

 

DMS.  We derive substantially all of our revenue from fees earned through the delivery of qualified leads or paid clicks. We deliver targeted and measurable results through a vertical focus that we classify into the following key client verticals: education, financial services, home services, B2B and healthcare.

 

DSS.  We derived approximately 5%, 2%, 1% and 1% of our net revenue in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of fiscal year 2010, respectively. We expect DSS to continue to represent an immaterial portion of our business.

 

Cost of Revenue

 

Cost of revenue consists primarily of media costs, personnel costs, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, depreciation expense and amortization of internal software development costs on revenue-producing technologies. Media costs consist primarily of fees paid to website publishers that are directly related to a revenue-generating event and PPC ad purchases from Internet search companies. We pay these Internet search companies and website publishers on a revenue-share, cost-per-lead, or CPL, cost-per-click, or CPC, and cost-per-thousand-impressions, or CPM, basis. Personnel costs include salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation expense and employee benefit costs. Compensation expense is primarily related to individuals associated with maintaining our servers and websites, our editorial staff, client management, creative team, compliance group and media purchasing analysts. We capitalize costs associated with software developed or obtained for internal use.

Costs incurred in the development phase are capitalized and amortized in cost of revenue over the product’s estimated useful life. We anticipate that our cost of revenue will increase in absolute dollars.

 

Operating Expenses

 

We classify our operating expenses into three categories: product development, sales and marketing and general and administrative. Our operating expenses consist primarily of personnel costs and, to a lesser extent, professional fees, rent and allocated costs. Personnel costs for each category of operating expenses generally include salaries, bonuses and commissions, stock-based compensation expense and employee benefit costs.

 

Product Development.  Product development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs and professional services fees associated with the development and maintenance of our technology platforms, development and launching of our websites, product-based quality assurance and testing. We believe that continued investment in technology is critical to attaining our strategic objectives and, as a result, we expect technology development and enhancement expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

 

Sales and Marketing.  Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs (including commissions) and, to a lesser extent, allocated overhead, professional services, advertising, travel and marketing materials. We expect sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we hire additional personnel in sales and marketing to support our increasing revenue base and product offerings.

 

General and Administrative.  General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs of our executive, finance, legal, employee benefits and compliance and other administrative personnel, as well as accounting and legal professional services fees and other corporate expenses. We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods as we continue to invest in corporate infrastructure and incur additional expenses associated with being a public company, including increased legal and accounting costs, investor relations costs, higher insurance premiums and compliance costs associated with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

Interest and Other Income (Expense), Net

 

Interest and other income (expense), net, consists primarily of interest income and interest expense. Interest expense is related to our credit facilities and the promissory notes issued in connection with our acquisitions. The outstanding balance of our credit facilities and acquisition-related promissory notes was $76.8 million and $29.8 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2009. We expect interest expense to increase in the near future as we entered into a new credit facility in January 2010 with a larger borrowing capacity and a higher rate of interest. Borrowings under our credit facility could also subsequently increase as we continue to implement our acquisition strategy. Interest income represents interest received on our cash and cash equivalents, which we expect will increase in the near term with the investment of the net proceeds of this offering.

 

Income Tax Expense

 

We are subject to tax in the United States as well as other tax jurisdictions or countries in which we conduct business. Earnings from our limited non-U.S. activities are subject to local country income tax and may be subject to current U.S. income tax.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we did not have net operating loss carryforwards for federal income tax purposes and had approximately $2.8 million in California net operating loss carryforwards that begin to expire in March 2011, and that we expect to utilize in an amended return. The California net operating loss carryforwards will not offset future taxable income, but may instead result in a refund of historical taxes paid. As of December 31, 2009, our Japanese subsidiary had net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $370,000 that will begin to expire in 2011. These net operating loss carryforwards were fully reserved as of December 31, 2009.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had net deferred tax assets of $5.5 million. Our net deferred tax assets consist primarily of accruals, reserves and stock-based compensation expense not currently deductible for tax

purposes. We assess the need for a valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets by evaluating both positive and negative evidence that may exist. Any adjustment to the deferred tax asset valuation allowance would be recorded in the income statement of the periods that the adjustment is determined to be required.

 

On July 1, 2007, we adopted the authoritative accounting guidance prescribing a threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The guidance also provides for de-recognition of tax benefits, classification on the balance sheet, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. The guidance utilizes a two-step approach for evaluating uncertain tax positions. Step one, Recognition, requires a company to determine if the weight of available evidence indicates that a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. If a tax position is not considered “more likely than not” to be sustained then no benefits of the position are to be recognized. Step two, Measurement, is based on the largest amount of benefit, which is more likely than not to be realized on ultimate settlement.

 

Effective July 1, 2007, we adopted the accounting guidance on uncertainties in income tax. The cumulative effect of adoption to the opening balance of the retained earnings account was $1,705.

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

In presenting our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepting accounting principals, or GAAP, we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and related disclosures.

 

Some of the estimates and assumptions we are required to make relate to matters that are inherently uncertain as they pertain to future events. We base these estimates and assumptions on historical experience or on various other factors that we believe to be reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances. On an ongoing basis, we reconsider and evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates.

 

We believe that the critical accounting policies listed below involve our more significant judgments, assumptions and estimates and, therefore, could have the greatest potential impact on our consolidated financial statements. In addition, we believe that a discussion of these policies is necessary to understand and evaluate the consolidated financial statements contained in this prospectus.

 

For further information on our critical and other significant accounting policies, see Note 2 of our consolidated financial statements included in this prospectus.

 

Revenue Recognition

 

We derive revenue from two segments: DMS and DSS. DMS revenue, which constituted 95%, 98% and 99% of our net revenue for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively, is derived primarily from fees that are earned through the delivery of qualified leads or paid clicks. We recognize revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. Delivery is deemed to have occurred at the time a lead or click is delivered to the client, provided that no significant obligations remain.

 

From time to time, we may agree to credit clients for certain leads or clicks if they fail to meet the contractual or other guidelines of a particular client. We have established a sales reserve based on historical experience. To date, our reserve has been adequate for these credits. The adequacy of this reserve depends on our ability to estimate the number of credits that we will grant to our clients. If we were to change any of the assumptions or judgments made in calculating the amount of the reserve, it could cause a material change in the net revenue that we report in a particular period. Our assessment of the likelihood of collection is also a critical element in determining the timing of revenue recognition. If we do not believe that collection is reasonably assured, revenue will be recognized on the earlier of the date that the collection is reasonably assured or collection is made.

For a portion of our revenue, we have agreements with publishers of online media used in the generation of leads or clicks. We receive a fee from our clients and pay a fee to our publishers either on a revenue-share, CPL, CPC or CPM basis. We are the primary obligor in the transaction. As a result, the fees paid by our clients are recognized as revenue and the fees paid to our publishers are included in cost of revenue.

 

DSS revenue consists of (i) set-up and professional services fees and (ii) usage and hosting fees. Set-up and professional service fees that do not provide stand-alone value to our clients are recognized over the contractual term of the agreement or the expected client relationship period, whichever is longer, effective when the application reaches the “go-live” date. We define the “go-live” date as the date when the application enters into a production environment or all essential functionalities have been delivered. We recognize usage and hosting fees on a monthly basis as earned. Deferred revenue consists of billings or payments in advance of reaching all the above revenue recognition criteria, primarily comprising deferred DSS revenue.

 

Stock-Based Compensation

 

Through June 30, 2006, we accounted for our stock-based employee compensation arrangements in accordance with the intrinsic value provisions of Accounting Principles Board, or APB, Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, or APB 25, and related interpretations and complied with the disclosure provisions of SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock Based Compensation, and SFAS No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation Transition and Disclosure. Under the intrinsic value method, compensation expense is measured on the date of the grants as the difference between the fair value of our common stock and the exercise or purchase price multiplied by the number of stock options granted.

 

Effective July 1, 2006, we adopted SFAS 123(R), which requires non-public companies that used the minimum value method under SFAS 123 for either recognition or pro forma disclosures to apply SFAS 123(R) using the prospective-transition method. As such, we continue to apply the intrinsic value method to equity awards outstanding at the date of adoption of SFAS 123(R) that were measured using the minimum value method. In accordance with SFAS 123(R), we recognize the compensation cost of employee stock-based awards granted subsequent to June 30, 2006 in the statement of operations using the straight-line method over the vesting period of the award.

 

The following table sets forth the total stock-based compensation expense included in the related financial statement line items: