Former Intrapromote Client Openlist Sold for $13M
Over the years I've watched industry titan Alan Meckler tout vertical search again and again and again. So it was entirely appropriate that a former Jupiter analyst would co-found a vertical search engine that now serves as a model for next-generation search platforms.
Openlist, a former client of Intrapromote, was just purchased by Marchex for $13 million in cash and stock. (See the Marchex press release for details.) The Openlist site itself helps users select hotels, restaurants, and local attractions using content aggregation technology that narrows down search results to the most granular level imaginable, completely redefining the concepts of relevance and user satisfaction. But the real story is that Openlist technology is widely transferable and scalable, which is what will ultimately benefit many of Marchex's 250,000 sites. (You read that number correctly.)
I had the opportunity to work closely with Openlist founders Matthew Berk and Bejul Somaia and can honestly say that Marchex would be getting a bargain at many times the $13 million price.