Espotting boosts client base but loses Yahoo

The company, which launched in 2000, has previously stated that it had 16,000 advertising clients, but this leapt in the third-quarter following expansion into new territories.

Espotting now has a presence in 10 European countries - this catchment area generated more than 1bn queries from web users, up from 850m. Each query represents an opportunity for an Espotting advertiser to place an ad in front of a customer.

However, the company said that the 1bn figure excludes the volume of queries that originated from its now defunct Yahoo Europe deal, although these results were included in the 850m figure, suggesting that growth has been even higher than the stated 17.5% rise.

Commenting on Yahoo's exit, Espotting CEO and founder Daniel Ishag said: "Since launch, Espotting has pursued a distribution strategy which does not make us reliant on any one partner. We have a large, diverse distribution network, which consists of both well-known brands and smaller, niche sites.

"Our aim is to provide our 20,000 advertisers with highly targeted traffic - advertisers are concerned about the quality of the traffic, not its source."

He added: "Following Yahoo's worldwide acquisition of Overture, Espotting anticipated this move. As our traffic volume figures reflect, we have continued to add new distribution partners to our network. Over the next couple of months, we will be announcing even more distribution deals."

The company has still to agree terms with FindWhat, which offered £100m for the company in summer but has since decided to renegotiate following a review of Espotting's results. A decision is expected by the end of the year.



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