ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) is a Westlake Village, CA-based online advertising company, which provides online advertising campaigns and programs for advertisers and advertising agency customers in the United States and internationally. It operates in four segments: Media, Affiliate Marketing, Comparison Shopping, and Technology.

• ValueClick, Inc. The Media segment provides a range of online media solutions in the categories of display advertising, lead generation marketing, and email marketing, as well as sells various consumer products directly to end-user customers through company owned e-commerce Web sites.

• Commission Junction. The Affiliate Marketing segment enables advertisers to develop their own online sales force made up of third-party affiliate publishers. Its affiliate marketing search services include search engine marketing and search syndication.

• MeziMedia. The Comparison Shopping services segment allows consumers to research and compare products from various online and/or offline merchants using company’s proprietary technologies. This segment gathers product and merchant data and organizes it into catalogs on Web sites along with relevant consumer and professional reviews, and other relevant information.

• Mediaplex. The Technology segment offers technology infrastructure tools and services that enable advertisers and advertising agencies to implement and manage their own online display advertising and email campaigns; and that assist online publishers with management of their Web site inventory. This segment also offers technology to deliver Web-based enterprise management systems to advertising agencies, marketing communications companies, public relations agencies, and other corporate advertisers.

ValueClick’s customers include advertisers, advertising agencies, and traffic distribution partners. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Westlake Village, California.

In 2000, ValueClick absorbed a number of smaller companies, including the San Francisco Bay Area-based ClickAgents, onResponse and ZMedia. Other companies that were acquired by ValueClick include Mediaplex, Be Free, Commission Junction, Hi-Speed Media, E-Babylon, and Webclients.

In 2004, ValueClick acquired two search properties, Search123 and Simpli, and the price comparison web site PriceRunner.

In August 2005, ValueClick agreed to acquire rival ad network Fastclick.

In December 2006 they announced the purchase of Shopping.net, an online shopping directory, for $13.3 million.

In July 2007, ValueClick acquired MeziMedia, operator of the Smarter and CouponMountain comparison shopping web sites.

In March 2008, ValueClick paid $2.9m to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers with offers of prizes such as laptops and iPods to complete surveys, by means of tempting invitations such as ‘Free PS3 for survey’. (Reported in research-live.com newsletter)