LookSmart Appoints Seasoned Industry Executives to Lead Restructured Syndication and Consumer Divisions
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 13, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- LookSmart (Nasdaq: LOOK, ASX: LOK), an Internet search company, announced today the appointments of Deborah Richman and Bryan Everett to the positions of senior vice president, consumer products and senior vice president, sales, respectively. Each brings decades of experience to the Company, and will report into LookSmart president and chief executive officer, David B. Hills.
With this move, the company has been able to provide more focus on its core businesses by taking company divisions from three to two. Ms. Richman will head up the consumer products division that includes the Net Nanny, Furl.net, and FindArticles products. Mr. Everett will lead the paid listings and syndicated technologies division, which include the company's LookListings paid listings product, and its syndicated technologies, which are designed to help publishers generate search audiences and revenue.
David B. Hills, LookSmart's president and CEO said, "My primary focus in these long term, strategic moves, was to make the company more efficient and customer focused adding two highly experienced people to lead the company's growth over the ensuing years. It is critical that we are organized in a way that lets us move quickly and have leaders who can set a tone of performance, speed and urgency. I believe we have accomplished this and we will be in better shape to realize the company's goals."
Ms. Richman has twenty years of marketing leadership at the executive level for technology-based consumer and business services spanning entrepreneurial and high-growth companies as well as blue chip organizations. Her proven record of restructuring or developing new consumer product lines and distribution channels have led to high-growth revenue opportunities at companies such as Overstock.com and Dun & Bradstreet Information Services. Deborah Richman comes to LookSmart from About Web Services where she served as general manager and vice president, leading the overall direction and marketing for this shared web hosting provider. Prior to joining About Web Services, she was vice president of Overstock.com, a highly successful online shopping company. Ms. Richman received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Middlebury College and a Masters of Business from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
"Debby's ability to understand audience needs, technology and marketing will allow us to leverage the consumer products we have, increasing our audience and revenues from LookSmart owned traffic. She is joining a talented and passionate group and will add the right level of discipline, planning and forward thinking that is needed in a space that will evolve and grow over the years to come."
Ms. Richman said, "I was attracted to LookSmart because of the products they have and the Company view of search developing in highly targeted ways so consumers can get the essential and not the exhaustive. LookSmart's intense focus on customer quality is directly in line with my professional principles. With this synergy in place I look forward to working with the team, and Dave, to develop as much audience as we can."
Mr. Everett has extensive experience in sales and sales management, business development, operations and financial planning. Mr. Everett's online career began with key executive sales positions with 24/7 Real Media, a leader in interactive marketing and technology solutions for marketers and publishers. Mr. Everett demonstrated tremendous success in dealing with both publishers and advertisers during his time at 24/7 Real Media. Most recently, Bryan Everett was vice president of sales for Twelve Horses, a global provider of email and web-based marketing and business automation solutions. In his role as sales VP, Bryan was responsible for maximizing revenue growth with an emphasis on search engine optimization and maximizing market share, as well as evaluating and developing additional revenue streams for the company. Mr. Everett received a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from Lehigh University and a Masters of Business from Pepperdine University.
"Bryan's track record of accomplishment and results, his background in all aspects of online advertising and his disciplined approach to product, sales and service, will invigorate the paid listings and syndication division. In addition, his proven leadership abilities will be an advantage to his team," said Mr. Hills.
"I am looking forward to working with the team to continue the growth and innovation that our customers and partners demand," said Mr. Everett. "Paid search is a high growth and high value part of the online industry and I believe LookSmart sits in a great place to capitalize on the marketplace by staying focused on sales, service and innovation."
About LookSmart
LookSmart is a leader in commercial search services and a developer of innovative web search solutions. The Company provides consumers with relevant search results through a distribution network that includes Lycos, CNET, InfoSpace (Excite, MetaCrawler, Webcrawler), Cox Interactive, Apple's Sherlock, U.C. Berkeley and LookSmart.com, while delivering high performance sales leads at a reasonable price to online businesses. LookSmart is based in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit www.looksmart.com.
Contact: Michele Large
KML Communications
206-441-0500
michele@kmlpr.com
SOURCE LookSmart
Michele Large of KML Communications, +1-206-441-0500 or michele@kmlpr.com, for LookSmart
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