ValueClick to buy Revenue Science?

Behavioral targeting is all the rage in online advertising. The technology aims to show ads to Internet users based on the sites they visit and the actions they perform, rather than targeting words they search for, as Google does, or matching advertisers' desired demographics to a site's audience, as most banner-ad purchasers do today. ValueClick has introduced its own product, in competition with AOL's Tacoda and Yahoo's BlueLithium. But ValueClick's executives may not be particularly confident in the product — if rumors are true that they're talking to startup Revenue Science about an acquisition. Revenue Science has raised more than $70 million in venture capital, and recently appointed former ValueClick executive Jeff Hirsch as its CEO.

ValueClick stock tanks 18 percent on missed earnings: Is the ad recession on?

ValueClick preannounced their second-quarter earnings early today, reporting revenue between $163 milllion and $164 million, below the online-advertising company's expectations of $166 million to $170 milllion. As of this morning, company shares are down 18.52 percent. In a release, ValueClick CEO Tom Vadnais blamed a "increasing macroeconomic uncertainty" which the company said "negatively impacted revenue in the quarter, primarily in the U.S. comparison shopping and U.S. display advertising businesses." But are we in an ad recession, or did ValueClick whiff their quarter and need an excuse? More »

ValueClick settles for $2.9 million in spam case

ValueClick's $2.9 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission of charges it spammed users with deceptive offers was filed in federal court today. While ValueClick publicly announced the settlement terms last month, and gets away without having to admit wrongdoing, the bad news couldn't have come at a worse time. The company also stands to lose eBay's affiliate marketing business next month The company's stock was down 7 percent today, hitting a one-year low at $16.20 a share. Look for the company to start offering free iPhones to anyone who buys 50 shares of VLCK, subscribes to Ladies Home Journal and applies for auto insurance.

Make money faster! eBay may dump ValueClick for its own affiliate program

Under new CEO John Donahoe, eBay is moving to take its affiliate marketing in-house, a tipster tells us. The auction giant could dump ValueClick's Commission Junction, which currently pays website publishers to direct bidders to eBay's stores, for its own eBay Partner Network. The eBay website is already active, with what appears to be a login for beta testers. eBay Partner Network is also the name of a recently formed eBay subsidiary, according to an SEC filing. Amazon.com has long had its own affiliate-marketing subsidiary, which has turned into a venture to provide all kinds of services to startups. By farming out the work, eBay has lost both a cut of its sales and a chance to play in a field that's a fast-growing part of online advertising.