Online search and media company LookSmart reported a first-quarter 2006 decline in revenue and a wider loss in earnings. But management pointed to increases in Web traffic to its content sites and increased click-through on ads as signs that the company is positioning itself successfully as a contextual ad network.
For Q1 2006, LookSmart posted a net loss of $4.5 million, compared to a loss of $4.3 million. Revenues for the quarter were $10.5 million, a 12.5% decline from $12 million in the same quarter last year.
LookSmart’s 180 vertical content sites saw traffic increases of more than 30% during the quarter and had more than 12 million unique visitors during the period. Clicks on sponsored ads on those sites grew to 74 million for the quarter, up from 72 million in the preceding quarter. Including both ads sold by LookSmart and those delivered by third-party networks, average revenue per click was 12 cents, unchanged from Q4 2005.
LookSmart CEO Dave Hills said that the audience metrics showed consumers valued the company’s content, which is organized into topical vertical categories such as automotive, education, money and travel.
“Now our focus is centered on making that audience grow faster and providing an impetus for our users to visit our properties more frequently and for longer periods,” he said in a conference call, adding that LookSmart will launch extensive audience research in the coming quarter.
LookSmart also owns and licenses the Furl.net bookmarking technology.
