WebProNews

Settlement should free them up to be purchased

Lead generation practices by ValueClick's Hi-Speed Media division aroused the ire of the Federal Trade Commission, but the company managed to settle without admitting any wrongdoing.

ValueClick announced the settlement today, which comes after an FTC investigation into whether or not ValueClick violated the CAN-SPAM Act and the FTC Act.

"The settlement is based solely on the past practices of the Company’s Hi-Speed Media division and not WebClients or any other ValueClick subsidiary, and is subject to approval by the Department of Justice and the presiding court," the company said in a statement.

ValueClick anticipated the settlement, accepting a $2.9 million charge to its financials in Q4 2007. Lead generation at ValueClick will be handled by its WebClients division going forward.

Now that the company seems to be past its travails with the Feds, the next question becomes "who will acquire ValueClick?" In 2007, several ad companies accepted bids from Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, AOL, and WPP Group.

But ValueClick had been conspicuous in its absence from the lists of acquisitions. In Q4 2007, ValueClick pulled in revenue of $183.1 million, with diluted net income of 18 cents per share; the FTC settlement lowered those earnings by 3 cents per share.

This could be an opportunity for Ask.com's new CEO Jim Safka to make a splash. That's assuming Barry Diller would rather spend money on ValueClick and its other properties like Commission Junction, instead of on billboards about The Algorithm.