Deal Radar 2008: Wize Ranks Products

We profiled Tom Patterson, CEO of Wize.com last year. The site compiles both expert and user reviews and inserts them into a scoring algorithm to rank products. The site’s proprietary WizeRank gives each product a 1 – 100 score, utilizing collective wisdom ferreted from all over the web.

IAC – Divided we stand

Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI) recently announced its decision to split its whole business into five separate listed entities. The stock has lost around 24% in 2007. The spin off will hopefully lead to value unlocking for shareholders. It will create 5 different entities – Interactive (including Ask.com, Match.com and Citysearch), Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, Interval

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Google is Unbeatable

Hah! This morning, the hilarity of Google’s incredibly accurate algorithmic ad matching system produced a new level of precision. It pushed this ad on my site:

Deal Radar 2008: TheFind

We profiled Siva Kumar, CEO of TheFind.com, a discovery shopping search engine last year. This is yet another vertical search engine optimized for visual merchandising oriented lifestyle products. In July 2007, TheFind raised $15 million in a third round of funding from Bain Capital Ventures, Ignition, Lightspeed and Redpoint. It had previously raised $11 million

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Deal Radar 2008: Zillow

Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, founders of Expedia, launched Zillow, a real estimate site in Feb 2005. Zillow is known for providing free home valuations called Zestimates, which are somewhat accurate. Zillow also provides house specs, graphing, mapping, and analysis tools. Zillow launched Smart Search along with enhanced Neighborhood Pages that makes it easier for

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Deal Radar 2008: LinkedIn Should Roll-Up Jobs

LinkedIn is a professional business networking site founded by Reid Hoffman in 2003. It allows members to showcase their profiles and caters to the age 25-65 professionals demographic. It generates revenues via subscriptions and advertising. Recruiters use the site to tap talent, and is LinkedIn’s primary revenue generating segment. In 2003, LinkedIn secured $4.7 million

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Deal Radar 2008: Girls Like Stardoll

Stardoll.com, formerly known as Paperdoll Heaven, is an online community for girls aged between 9 and17. It is a free online version of dress up dolls and is meant for those in love with fashion and style. The site features over 330 dolls and tens of thousands of virtual garments and accessories. It is now

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Deal Radar 2008: Trulia Can Consolidate Real Estate

It is raining cats and dogs. Electricity was out this morning and we just got it back. I am very behind in everything, including my writing. But here we go … Yesterday, we discussed the Kayak-Sidestep roll-up deal, and its implications on Google. Trulia is a real estate vertical search engine that could be a

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