Kelkoo

The website Kelkoo is a European price comparison service founded in France in 1999. It was bought by Yahoo! in 2004. It operates in 10 countries, including UK, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Belgium.

Infobox Software | name = Kelkoo



caption = Kelkoo homepage screenshot
developer = Mauricio Lopez
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operating_system = Any (web based application)
genre = Price comparison service
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website = http://www.kelkoo.com

History

Kelkoo was founded in 1999 by Pierre Chappaz and Mauricio Lopez. Initial funding of $3 million was provided by Banexis Ventures and Innovacom. Once Kelkoo merged with 3 other European businesses, it absorbed those founders into one single collective, consisting of Per Lindberg, William Klippgen, Philip Wilkinson, and Jorge Garcia.

In April 2000, within days of each other, Kelkoo merged with Spanish-based Dondecomprar.com [http://www.highbeam.com/doc.aspx?DOCID=1G1:61906531&print=yes&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AMode20a%3ADocG%3AResult&ao= Spain's Dondecomprar.com merged with Kelkoo.com] and UK-based competitor ShopGenie. [http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/350621 European Merger Creates E-Commerce Giant] In September of the same year, they bought Scandinavian-based ZoomIt [ [http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/co_5261_128501-consumer-releases-zoomit-merger.html Consumer Releases: Zoomit Merger ] ] , paying the Zoomit-shareholder in shares amounting to a third of Kelkoo's total equity.

In 2001, Espotting placed ads onto Kelkoo pages. This was one of the first examples of a search engine entering the contextual advertising market. The same service was provided by Google following January 2004.

In June 2003, it partnered with the European arm of the Microsoft site MSN to provide shopping listings. [http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/150160/kelkoo-seals-msn-deal.html Kelkoo seals MSN deal] A similar deal was announced in June 2004 with Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves).

In April 2004, Kelkoo was bought by Yahoo! Inc for €450 million. Yahoo! explained this move as providing advertisers with the ability to target individual products. [http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/pr/release1160.html Yahoo! to Acquire Kelkoo]

In October 2005 a book on Kelkoo appeared in French called "Ils ont réussi leur start-up! La success-story de Kelkoo". [ [http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/2744061956 Amazon.fr : Ils ont réussi leur Start-up ! : La Success Story de Kelkoo: Livres: Julien Codorniou,Cyrille de Lasteyrie,Pierre Chappaz ] ] written by Julien Codorniou and Cyrille de Lasteyrie.

Origin of the name

The name "Kelkoo" is an incorrect spelling as a primary meaning for the French phrase "Quel coût?", meaning "At what price?". It can also be understood as "Quel coup", meaning "What a bargain". [http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/co_5203-how-to-use-kelkoo-frequently-asked-questions.html#8 Kelkoo FAQ]

Business model

Kelkoo has been profitable since Q4 2002. Similar to other price comparison services in how it operates, Kelkoo has focused much of its marketing on capturing users through SEO and launching partner sites.

On the site itself, it differs from the Google Product Search and PriceRunner model in that it allows retailers to bid for placement in search results. It also covers more categories than most competitors, including clothes, travel, electronics, and auctions from eBay.

In addition to being a price comparison site, Kelkoo is also one of the content providers for SmartShopper.com browser add-on.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.kelkoo.co.uk "Kelkoo.co.uk"]