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Insweb Corp. has a market cap of $37.4 million; its shares were traded at around $7.48 with a P/E ratio of 32.5 and P/S ratio of 0.8.
Highlight of Business Operations:InsWeb s principal source of revenues is transaction fees from participating insurance providers, which include insurance companies, national, statewide or nationwide insurance brokers, and local independent or exclusive agents (such as State Farm agents).Quotes and other information obtained through InsWeb s online insurance marketplace are provided to consumers free of charge. InsWeb earns a majority of its revenues from participating insurance providers, based on the delivery of qualified leads from consumers who have completed an insurance form. Lead revenues represented approximately 83% of total revenues in 2010, and post acquisition of Potrero Media, 87% of total revenues in Q4 2010. In certain instances, consumers are provided the opportunity to link directly to a third-party insurance provider s website (“Cost per Click” or “CPC” program). In these situations, the consumer will complete the third-party company s online application, and InsWeb will be paid a fee for that consumer link or “click-through.” Click-through revenues accounted for approximately 15% of total revenues in 2010, and post acquisition of Potrero Media, 12% of total revenues in Q4 2010.
As of December 31, 2010, there were approximately 13,000 personal lines insurance agents who were approved to actively purchase consumer leads through AgentInsider. For the year ended, December 31, 2010, agents purchasing leads directly through AgentInsider represented 32% of total transaction fees. Separately, certain insurance carriers purchase leads from InsWeb and redistribute them to their agents. At December 31, 2010, approximately 2,700 such agents were indirectly accessible to consumers, due to the redistribution process mentioned previously. As of December 31, 2010, there were approximately 2,200 agents and brokers purchasing health leads through Producer Pipeline. In 2010, 44% of InsWeb s total revenues were derived from lead purchases by agents, including sales to carriers who redistribute leads to their agents. In Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media, 41% of InsWeb s total revenues were derived from lead purchases by agents, including sales to carriers who redistribute leads to their agents.
Consumer leads for which InsWeb has a limited offering continue to be distributed on a revenue share basis through InsWeb competitors, including Bankrate Insurance, as more fully explained below. Such leads accounted for 15% of InsWeb s total revenues in 2010, and 11% in Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media.
1) Form Hosting Relationships: InsWeb has entered into over 20 “form-hosting” marketing agreements, where the consumer fills out the quote request form on the marketing partner s site. Once the information is collected, the partner contacts (pings) InsWeb as well as, in many cases, one or more of InsWeb s competitors, and seeks bids for that particular lead. In “real time”, InsWeb s systems calculate the approximate revenue that can be obtained by selling that lead, and bids according to a pre-determined gross margin requirement. If InsWeb is the winning bidder for that lead, the lead will be distributed to providers in the usual manner. If InsWeb does not win the bid, it owes nothing to the marketing partner. InsWeb believes that the form hosting platform allows greater control over its revenue and margin because its bids can be adjusted easily to accommodate InsWeb s business needs. In 2010, leads generated by form hosting relationships accounted for 51% of InsWeb s total revenues. In Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media, leads generated by form hosting relationships accounted for 51% of InsWeb s total revenues.
2) Direct to Consumer Marketing: InsWeb s direct marketing strategy is designed to cost effectively increase consumer traffic to its websites and to drive awareness of insurance products and services available on its websites. InsWeb employs various means of marketing, which consist primarily of sponsored search (9% of total revenues in 2010, and 20% in Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media), online display advertising (10% in 2010 and 8% in Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media), e-mail campaigns (9% in 2010 and 5% in Q4 2010, post acquisition of Potrero Media), as well as partnerships with high-profile online sites, and other miscellaneous marketing efforts (5% in 2010 and 3% in Q4 2010) .
3) Working with Competitors: For several years, InsWeb has been working with several of its competitors, chiefly Bankrate Insurance (comprising NetQuote.com and InsureMe.com) and InsuranceLeads.com in a two-way relationship that enables all parties to maximize their revenues from every lead generated. In real time, each party s system determines which among its own providers are available to buy any given lead. Once that has been determined, the systems “pings” competitors with details of the lead, without personally identifiable information, to find out if they have any other buyers for that same lead. If they do have buyers from different affiliations than the original party, the parties share in the additional revenue generated. In 2010, InsWeb s revenues from consumers acquired from competitors represented 15% of total revenues, and, post acquisition of Potrero Media, in Q4 2010, InsWeb s revenues from consumers acquired from competitors represented 11% of total revenues.
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