Anybody want to buy a content farm? Demand Media filed its IPO registration today. It describes its business this way:
While traditional media companies create content based on anticipated consumer interest, we create content that responds to actual consumer demand. Our approach is driven by consumers’ desire to search for and discover increasingly specific information across the Internet.
It is also filled with all sorts of detailed financial data.
It turns out that Demand Media is not yet a very profitable business. Last year it reported $22 million in losses on $198 million in revenues. In the first six months of this year, however, it brought its net loss down to $6 million, on revenues of $108 million.
And while Demand Media has been pursuing a content and media strategy of creating search-friendly articles and videos for its network of sites including eHow and many niche sites, a full 44 percent of its revenues in the first half of 2010 ($47.7 million) still came from its domain registration business, eNom.
Some other juicy details from the prospectus (unless otherwise stated, stats are for the first half of 2010):
- 45 percent of revenues are from advertising
- 26 percent of revenues came from Google ads
- 21 percent of revenues come from eHow
- 60 percent of eHow’s page views come from Google searches
- In the third quarter of 2008, 100 percent of the articles an d other content Demand Media’s creates itself was published on eHow. That was down to 60 percent in the second quarter of 2010.
That is just from a quick scan. There is lots more in there. Above and below are a couple of tables showing consolidated financial data and a breakdown of revenues along business lines. Click to enlarge
