This post is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark as a new part of the Spark of Genius series that focuses on a new and innovative startup each day. Every Thursday, the program focuses on startups within the BizSpark program and what they’re doing to grow.Lijit is the alternative site-search platform that powers the search experience on the more than 12,000 sites that make up The Lijit Network.
As a startup that has been around since mid 2006, Lijit might be easy to write off as past its prime — and that would have been a fair assumption last year when the company pulled in a “modest” $80,000 in revenue for 2009.
CEO and Founder Todd Vernon tells Mashable that since the introduction of its new Ad Services platform in early 2010 that everything has changed. “As of September, the company was on $3M annualized run-rate revenue and we expect to close December at $6M in annualized run-rate revenue,” he says.
Annualized run-rates are merely predictions around revenue, but Vernon goes on the record to discuss how Lijit — which has taken approximately $17 million in funding over the years — is inching its way towards profitability.
From $80K to $6M in Revenue Potential
Vernon tells Mashable that, to date, 2,000 publishers (17% of the entire network) have opted-in to Lijit’s ad platform. As such, these publishers automatically display targeted display advertising — served up by Lijit brand partners — based on search data to site visitors. The Lijit offering is a click-through based publisher-alternative to Google AdSense. Publishers, advertisers and Lijit all take a cut of the display ad action.
The introduction of the Ad Services platform has been the most significant catalyst of growth. In early 2010, The Lijit Network was seeing 200 million monthly pageviews, but now — post Ad Services release — that number is closer to 800 million pageviews and 55 million uniques per month.
The company has finally settled into some serious revenue potential, but it’s been a long time coming. “The network more than doubled in the first half of 2010 and if we knew that was going to happen as fast as it did, we would have pushed on the ad platform faster,” Vernon admits.
Publisher Positive
Lijit attempts to differentiate itself from its bigger search competitors by offering free search and site analytics, and, perhaps more importantly, treating publishers as partners.
“We help really great publishers monetize their site … but it is more of a partner relationship than a faceless ad network relationship,” says Vernon on Lijit’s hands-on approach.
Vernon credits these relationships as an important driver of growth. “We help them build their business,” he explains, “Publishers like working with us and agencies want us to help them connect with publishers so it’s a win-win.”
Growth via Mobile
Lijit is also inadvertently attracting new publisher signups through its newly released Lijit Stats [iTunes link] iPad app for publishers. With the iPad app, Lijit publishers can watch their web analytics in real-time with data that includes reader geography, online site mentions and search queries.
“You can literally see a new person hit your site less than two seconds after it happens,” explains Vernon.
Lijit Stats for iPad is just a few days old, but is already seeing a great response, reports Vernon. “I have been shocked with the interest so far. It’s literally driving new service adoption even though it was designed for publishers already using our service.”
An iPhone version of the stats application is said to be coming soon and could help further Lijit’s mobile app-inspired growth spurt.
Run Rates and Reality
When Vernon points to a projected annualized revenue run rate of $6 million in December, he’s predicting that the company will make $6 million from December 2010 to December 2011. Those are ambitious predictions to say the least, and we’ll be much less skeptical once the company converts more of its publisher network into ad platform users.
If anything, though, trends in online advertising certainly help these predictions sound more plausible. As Mashable’s Lauren Indvik reported earlier this week, “Display advertising, which includes banner ads, digital video, rich media and sponsorships, garnered more than $4.4 billion in the first half of 2010, a 16% increase over the same period in 2009.”
Images courtesy of teamstickergiant, Tarable1, Flickr
Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
More About: ad network, bizspark, Lijit, Search
For more Tech coverage:
- Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
- Become a Fan on Facebook
- Subscribe to the Tech channel
- Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad