Hi ckent8,
Thankfully,
I wasn't buying tech stocks then.
Otherwise, I probably would have been stupid enough to be overawed through all the hype.
Big difference since then. At that time the only measurement the analysts were using as a forward guidance was the amount of times a page was viewed.
However, there was know way to measure the return on investment. How could you justify a P/E of 500 or 600:1 in those days? The problem was the Net was still in its infancy stage with know real measurement in place.
Looksmart has weathered every storm that has been thrown at them and has come through each time.
The mistakes they have made in the past have been rectified and are continueing to improve their model by the management team prepared to make the tough decisions even if it represents an opportunity cost.
Prime example was when they changed there model to Cost Per Clicks. It was costly in the initial stages but is now starting to show some fruit.
Regarding competition!!! True competition is very fierce, but at the same time it is shrinking to only a few large ones that will survive. Thankfully, Looksmart is in the Listings department as a Second Tier engine rather than try to compete with the bigboys. Thats why they pose no threat to Yahoo, MSN, and others. If anything, it should be companies like Google and Overture that should be looking over their shoulder. Looksmart is catching up. Still has a long way to go, but it is in the most profitable part of the internet. That is providing 2nd tier search and relevancy to the Portals.
Cheers markco
LOK
looksmart limited
