(Adds detail and information from IncrediMail president
throughout.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
IncrediMail Ltd. (MAIL) said it has amended its advertising
agreement with Google Inc. (GOOG) to end at the close of this year
rather than in July of 2011, as the software developer said it is
looking at other "major players" in the search industry as Google
discusses possible "market-wide changes."
The company, which develops software that lets users customize
email using animations and other effects, signed a two-year
agreement with Google in July 2009.
"Over the last few months we have had numerous discussions with
Google regarding possible market-wide changes being discussed
internally, and the time frame for implementation," said
IncrediMail Chief Executive Ofer Adler in a statement on Wednesday.
"Although these discussions continue, Google continues to state
that no decision has been made regarding the precise changes or
their timing."
IncrediMail President Jeff Holzmann told Dow Jones Newswires
those changes "could potentially be harmful for us in terms of
revenues and distribution" and that the company's goal is to
"diversify our partnerships in search."
Amid the Google uncertainty, IncrediMail has been testing other
major search players' services in connection with search properties
it offers its user base.
The newly shortened agreement "affords us the freedom come 2011
to work with other providers, not just Google," Holzmann said. "Our
main goal is to diversify our revenues--nobody wants to keep all
their eggs in one basket."
The company has been using Google's AdSense since the end of
2006, letting it share in advertising revenue generated from users
who clicked on Google-sponsored links in response to search queries
conducted on IncrediMail sites.
The company also said that by the fourth quarter, it will have
"a more diversified source of search-generated revenues, as well as
a substantially higher level of revenues generated from other
Internet-based advertising."
IncrediMail shares were flat in recent trading. The stock has
fallen 47% so far this year.
IncrediMail in May said its first-quarter profit climbed by half
to $2.1 million as it saw revenue increase.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com