Comscore Inc (SCOR) 2008 Q2 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Good afternoon and welcome to the comScore second-quarter 2008 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following today's prepared presentation, instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS).

  • As a reminder, the web cast from this conference call will be archived and available on the investor relations sections of comScore's web site following the completion of today's conference.

  • I would now like to turn the conference over to John Green, comScore's Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

  • John Green - CFO

  • Good afternoon and welcome to comScore's earnings call for our second quarter and full year 2008. On the call with me today is Magid Abraham, comScore's President, CEO and co-founder.

  • Before we begin, please allow me to read the following statement to inform you of certain Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. During the course of today's presentation, as well as any discussions and question-and-answer periods to follow, representatives of the Company may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 regarding future events or financial performance of the Company that involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation the expected strength of comScore's business comScore's business, customer growth and clients' demand for comScore's products, the future quality of client relationships and resulting renewal rates, expected results and profitability of comScore's acquisition of M:Metrics and forecasts of future financial performance including related growth rates and assumptions for the second half and the full year of 2008.

  • Such statements are only predictions based on management's current expectations. Actual events or results could differ materially from those predictions due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those enumerated in the documents comScore files from time to time with the SEC. Those documents specifically include but are not limited to comScore's Form 8-K filed earlier today relating to the subject matter of this earnings call, comScore's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2007 and comScore's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31st, 2008.

  • These filings may contain and identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included in these presentations, which speak only as of the date of these presentations. comScore does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information after today's call or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

  • I will now turn the call over to Magid.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Earlier this afternoon we released our financial results for the second quarter, which ended on June 30th, 2008, and reflects the results of our acquisition of M:Metrics, which was completed at the end of May. As stated in the press release, we will also be highlighting the results of the base comScore business excluding the impact of the M:Metrics acquisition for this reporting period only to facilitate comparisons with the Company's guidance that we issued prior to the acquisition.

  • I am pleased to report that, as our second quarter of 2008 financial results show, we had an outstanding performance, achieving the highest levels of revenue and profitability in comScore's history. For the comScore base business, we exceeded the First Call consensus estimate and our own prior guidance in all respects. Our momentum in the marketplace continues with strong new business and growth among existing customers. We are very excited about the additional value that we will bring to our customers by combining M:Metrics' products and its leadership position in the measurement of the mobile Internet and media markets, combining that with comScore's existing strong position in the global digital marketing intelligence marketplace.

  • The integration of the M:Metrics business into comScore's existing operations is well underway, and we are on track with our objective for M:Metrics to make a positive contribution to adjusted EBITDA by the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, as we announced at the time of the acquisition.

  • I want to highlight some of the key financial results for the quarter. In particular, I want to highlight the base business. Here are some of the key metrics, and John will provide some details later.

  • Our total revenue reached $28.8 million in Q2, which was an increase of 38% relative to the same period a year ago. For our base business, the revenue was $27.8 million; that's an increase of 34%, and that compares to our guidance of $27.1 million to $27.4 million. Our GAAP net income was $1.7 million. When we look at the base business excluding the M:Metrics results, it was $2.6 million; that's a 108% increase.

  • Our GAAP EPS on a diluted basis was $0.06 per share. Our EPS on the base business was $0.09 per share, and that compares to a guidance of $0.07 to $0.08 per share. Our adjusted EBITDA was $6.5 million, and on the base business was $6.8 million. That's up 63% and compares to a guidance of $5.8 million to $6.1 million. Our non-GAAP EPS for the diluted business, for the base business, was $0.20 and that compares to our guidance of $0.16 to $0.17, and our total deferred revenue grew by 58%, and on the base business they grew by 39%.

  • We continued to make progress with our goals to grow our subscription business and to add new customers to our expanding customer base. Our subscription revenue was $23.7 million for the second quarter, which is an increase of 45% over the prior-year period. This accounts for 82% of comScore's total revenue for the quarter, which is an increase of 4 percentage points versus second quarter in 2007 and 1 percentage point higher than the first quarter in 2008.

  • Project revenue of $5.1 million grew by 13% in the second quarter relative to the prior-year period.

  • The quality of our client relationships is as strong as ever, as reflected in our revenue among existing customers, which totaled $24.3 million in the second quarter. That's up 37% compared to the second quarter of 2007, while our renewal rates continued to be well over 90% during the quarter. Revenue from new customers was $4.5 million, an increase of 43% compared to the second quarter of 2007. In addition, our international revenue was $4.1 million in the second quarter. That's an increase of 75% compared to the corresponding year-ago period, and it now accounts for 14% of the Company's total revenue compared with 11% of the total revenue mix in the second quarter of '07.

  • We've added a net of 74 new customers during the second quarter, which brings the total number of customers to 1104. We now have 1013 subscription based customers, which is a net add of 64 customers in the second quarter.

  • Despite the general macroeconomic uncertainty, our confidence in the strength of our business remains high and we continue to see strong demand for our products and services, as reflected in the guidance for the full year that John will discuss later.

  • I will now turn the call over to John for a review of the detailed financial results for the second quarter and our outlook for the third quarter and the full year, and after that we will open the call to questions and answers.

  • John Green - CFO

  • Second-quarter 2008 GAAP income before taxes was $3.2 million, an increase of 156% compared to $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2007. Excluding the results of M:Metrics, second-quarter net income before taxes was $4.4 million, an increase of 249% compared to the second quarter of 2007. GAAP net income was $1.7 million, an increase of approximately $500,000 or 38%, and reflected in the GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2008 is the normalized effective rate of 46% including a cash tax rate of 4.4%. The normalized effective tax rate was negatively impacted by current-year net losses incurred by certain M:Metrics' international subsidiaries for which the full benefit is not realized by other comScore subsidiaries.

  • Excluding the results of M:Metrics, net income was $2.6 million, up 108%, and then excluding the results of M:Metrics, the normalized effective tax rate was 41.8% including a cash tax rate of 3.3% as we continue to utilize NOLs to reduce cash taxes.

  • As Magid said, our GAAP EPS for the second quarter was $0.06 and approximately 30.3 million fully diluted shares, and then excluding the results of M:Metrics in the quarter the EPS was $0.09 per share. The adjusted EBITDA was $6.5 million, and then excluding the results of M:Metrics for the quarter it was $6.8 million. And again, as Magid said, it exceeded our guidance for the quarter of $5.8 million to $6.1 million.

  • Our Company's adjusted EBITDA margin was approximately 22%, an increase of approximately 3 percentage points as compared to the second quarter of 2007, and this includes approximately 2 percentage points attributable to $650,000 in incremental costs incurred in the second quarter of 2008 due to our public company costs, which were not yet applicable to comScore in the second quarter of 2007. Excluding the impact of M:Metrics, our adjusted EBITDA margin was over 24% for the quarter.

  • Non-GAAP adjusted net income for the second quarter of 2008 was $5.6 million, an increase of 70% compared to the $3.3 million in the second quarter of 2007. Operating cash flow for the second quarter of 2008 was $14.2 million, an increase of $9.7 million or 214% compared to the $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2007. Free cash flow was $7.8 million for the quarter compared to $3.4 million in the second quarter of last year.

  • As of June 30th, 2008, our Company held $67.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, $7.6 million in long-term investments. The decline of approximately $37 million in these investments and cash holdings compared to the $111.6 million balance as of the end of March is attributable solely to utilization of approximately $44.3 million in cash excluding transaction costs to acquire M:Metrics at the end of May.

  • Looking at our Company's updated financial outlook for the full year of 2008 on a consolidated basis including the results of M:Metrics, we are forecasting full-year 2008 revenue of approximately $119.7 million to $120.4 million. This reflects an increase in the full-year estimates for the base comScore business and also includes the impact of M:Metrics.

  • For the full year 2008, comScore's projected (technical difficulty) comScore's projecting GAAP net income for the full year of 2008 of $6.6 million to $7.2 million. This includes the effect of certain non-recurring acquisition-related expenses, stock-based compensation and amortization of certain intangible assets. An estimated normalized effective tax rate of approximately 44% including an estimated cash tax rate of approximately 4.9% us assumed to be applied against full-year earnings before taxes. The estimated normalized tax rate for comScore excluding the impact of M:Metrics is assumed to be approximately 41%, including an estimated cash tax rate of 4.9%.

  • Given these assumptions, we are projecting GAAP EPS for the full year 2008 of $0.22 to $0.23 per share. These GAAP net income and GAAP EPS projections for the full year 2008 reflect the effects of the purchase accounting and consolidating the financial results of M:Metrics with our existing comScore results.

  • We are also projecting adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2008 in the range of $25.5 million to $26.1 million. This range reflects an increase in the estimates for the base comScore business and includes the impact of M:Metrics. It also assumes the operations from the acquisition of M:Metrics begin to contribute positively to adjusted EBITDA by the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

  • We're forecasting non-GAAP adjusted net income of approximately $21.7 million to $22.1 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.71 to $0.73 per share for the full year of 2008. These non-GAAP adjusted net income and non-GAAP EPS projections for the full year of 2008 reflect an increase in the estimates for the base comScore business and include the impact of consolidating the financial results of M:Metrics with our base comScore estimates.

  • For the third quarter 2008 we are forecasting revenue of approximately $30.2 million to $30.7 million, an increase of 35% to 37% compared to the third quarter of 2007. For the third quarter of 2008 we're projecting GAAP net income of $400,000 to $600,000. An estimated normalized effective tax rate of approximately 44% to 45% including an estimated cash tax rate of approximately 9.5% is assumed to be applied against third-quarter earnings before taxes. This compares to an estimated normalized tax rate for comScore excluding the impact of M:Metrics of approximately 41% in the third quarter of 2008, and this includes an estimated cash tax rate of approximately 4.3%.

  • We are forecasting GAAP EPS for the third quarter 2008 of $0.01 to $0.02 per share. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2008 is forecast to be $5.4 million to $5.7 million. The adjusted EBITDA forecast for the third quarter of 2008 results in adjusted EBITDA margin of 18% to 19%. We are also forecasting non-GAAP adjusted net income for the third quarter of 2008 of $4 million to $4.4 million and forecast non-GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2008 of $0.13 to $0.14 per share. A reconciliation to guidance for the third quarter and full year 2008 GAAP net income and EPS to the adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP adjusted net income and non-GAAP EPS is included in a table accompanying this press release.

  • With that I'll turn the call back to Magid for closing remarks.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • We are pleased with our strong results to the first half of 2008 and we remain confident about our business momentum continuing for the balance of this year.

  • On a different note, I am very pleased to mention the launch of our Trees for Knowledge program, whereby we sponsor the planting of a tree for every analyst that joins our panel and stays in our panel for at least 30 days. We are partnering with an organization called Trees for the Future to execute the planting in various developed countries. We have made a stocking commitment of a million trees to be planted in the third quarter. The cost for those million trees will be accrued in its entirety in the third quarter and is included in the Q3 guidance that John discussed earlier.

  • We're very excited about this program for a number of reasons. First, it adds a valuable and relevant motivation for people to join our panel. We hope it will also improve our retention efforts. We have also received some positive feedback internally and externally for our good corporate citizenship.

  • Finally, our acquisition of M:Metrics demonstrates our continued pursuit of our strategic priorities of product innovation and increasing our industry leadership position.

  • With that, I will open the call for questions.

  • Operator

  • (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) Jason Helfstein, Oppenheimer & Company.

  • Jason Helfstein - Analyst

  • So two questions, and then a question about the trees. So it seemed like this quarter the revenue growth obviously very healthy growth in customers, but ARPU was, I guess, somewhat -- was flat year over year and maybe down sequentially. So can you just talk about the drivers affecting ARPU and how you think about that for the rest of the year? My math may have been off, but that's how I got it.

  • Secondly, any expenses? It looked like G&A was a bit higher. I'm just wondering what was in that. Also, with respect to your full-year guidance, you guys lowered GAAP EPS guidance to $0.22 to $0.23 from $0.34 to $0.38, even though the EBITDA guidance is exactly what we're looking for. So can you just talk about what's going on below the line in a bit more detail that's impacting the GAAP guidance? Because it seems like it's mostly below-the-line intangible and related M:Metrics.

  • And then, lastly, on the trees -- so if somebody leaves the panel, does that mean you'll have to cut the tree down? Thanks.

  • John Green - CFO

  • First of all, in terms of the ARPU, that's diluted by the very strong new customer growth and the amount of new customers that we added. But we want to emphasize that the existing customer growth was 37%, and we were also realizing about 6% price increases, which is in line with what our historical trends have been. So we think that that's a very favorable factor.

  • As it relates to the guidance, again, the reason why the guidance for the GAAP EPS is what it is, is that that's the full impact of the M:Metrics acquisition including the purchase accounting, the amortization, the intangibles and then the full costs including the non-recurring costs, which include people who will be terminated during the course of the balance of this year and related severance. So in fact, as we've said elsewhere in terms of the guidance that implied is that the base comScore business is showing an increase versus the previous guidance that we've given prior to the acquisition.

  • Jason Helfstein - Analyst

  • What's the actual intangible number you are forecasting for the year?

  • John Green - CFO

  • That It comes out to about $350,000 per quarter.

  • Jason Helfstein - Analyst

  • So probably about -- it's basically about evenly split between intangibles, some of the employees who will be let go, and then interest -- is that fair?

  • John Green - CFO

  • [It tilts] a little bit in terms of interest. But again, that's all in the reconciliation tables that accompany the press release related to the guidance.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Plus, we have the $400,000 in the reduction and the value of the -- what do you call that?

  • John Green - CFO

  • That's the $386,000 auction rate security charge that we took in the second quarter.

  • Jason Helfstein - Analyst

  • And then just on G&A, it was like $1 million more than I would have thought and it was up sequentially. Can you talk to that?

  • John Green - CFO

  • Again, on a consolidated basis the G&A is reflecting public company costs, and then there's also costs related to M:Metrics that are included in there, including an increase in the stock-based comp. And so, again, for the base business our G&A continues to get very significant leverage, and there was not anything unusual that was happening during the second quarter or that's implied in our balance with your guidance.

  • Jason Helfstein - Analyst

  • And what about the trees? What happens when somebody leaves the panel?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Somebody leaves the panel, the trees continue absorbing CO2 and providing shade for people.

  • Operator

  • Sandeep Aggarwal, Collins Stewart.

  • Sandeep Aggarwal - Analyst

  • Congratulations on a good quarter. A couple of questions. One is that, I'm assuming that your project revenue did not include any contribution from M:Metrics. And if that is the case, it delivered around 12% year-over-year growth. Is that something we should be expecting from the project revenue going forward?

  • And secondly, when I look at M:Metrics on a stand-alone basis, do you think it can grow maybe 2 to 2.5, 3X to of your core business growth?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, I think on the project revenue that we are not giving -- we are not giving guidance specifically on that component, but I think some the estimates that people have about the growth going down on single digits is probably too conservative. The one thing about the project revenue is that that is probably the component of our business that's the most timing-dependent on either the nature of the project or when the execution of a contract happens. But in general, as the size of our base business and our subscriber base increases, so does the project business. We've talked about how we do, on purpose, try to shift some of that project revenue into subscription revenue and how we use project revenue or project engagements to get a client to become a repeat client.

  • Nevertheless, the number of clients will influence the project revenue and will cause the growth to continue.

  • As far as whether the projects contain any M:Metrics project revenue, I think, very little.

  • John Green - CFO

  • It's primarily syndicated on the M:Metrics side.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • And -- I'm sorry; what was the rest of your question?

  • Sandeep Aggarwal - Analyst

  • So the question was about M:Metrics, at just a high level. On a long-term basis, do you think M:Metrics can deliver 2 to 2.5 times growth rate (inaudible) of your core business?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • I think it really depends by region. I think internationally, as we expand M:Metrics in tandem with the rest of the comScore business, I think we can see stronger growth than the entire comScore business. I think domestically we sort of look at it as, it is going to grow proportionately to the rest of the business there. Depending on new products that we will add at that point, we will be able to ascertain if there is an additional differential in growth.

  • Sandeep Aggarwal - Analyst

  • If I may ask one housekeeping item. Out of these 74 new customers you added, how many were from M:Metrics' side?

  • John Green - CFO

  • We aren't disclosing that. Obviously, the majority are from the basic comScore. But, we also got very good growth from M:Metrics.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Suffice it to say that higher than -- it is in line or higher than what you are used to on the base comScore business.

  • Operator

  • Youssef Squali, Jefferies & Company.

  • Unidentified Participant

  • This is Sandeep (inaudible) for Youssef. Thanks for taking my questions. So Magid, the call was dropped, so apologies if you've already addressed this before. But from a broader perspective, if you can just provide some color in terms of the impact that you're seeing or apparently not seeing from the economic slowdown? What assumptions are you baking into your guidance for the second half in terms of your ability to raise prices or thinking about sales cycles?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, on a macro basis, as you said, our second-quarter results were pretty strong, and the updated guidance speaks for itself. We have heard anecdotal evidence of some belt-tightening by some of our customers, but it really hasn't added up to anything that has created any kind of material impact. Our renewal rates continue to be as strong as ever, and we have averaged 6% price increases. And that compares to the 6% to 7% price increases that we have been able to achieve. So there again, we don't see the impact.

  • At the same time, it would be an exaggeration or probably very imprudent to say that comScore is recession-proof. We do believe that we deliver strong value to our customers and that the information we provide is needed by most of them to run their business. But we are comfortable with the guidance that we provided that it reflects a cautious outlook for the second half that maybe affected by the economy.

  • Unidentified Participant

  • Just curious, to build up on that, did you see any impact, especially during the last month of the quarter after Google's Ad Planner was launched in terms of ad agencies or publishers; what have you been hearing? Any trend that you saw in terms of their adoption rate to Ad Planner or your product after the launch from Google?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, we really haven't seen an impact so far on our business. We haven't heard any client that said we will use it instead of comScore. We have heard concerns about conflict of interest and about data validity. We have done a lot of research on that, and we are quite comfortable with the differences that we see.

  • We do actually see some of the bigger competitors for Google are starting to become more engaged with us. So I can't tell you that there is one material impact, one way or the other. We are obviously working very hard on trying to make it a positive on that.

  • Operator

  • (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) Troy Mastin, William Blair.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • I wanted to ask about your guidance for full-year revenue, a couple of things there. I think in the past you've characterized it, at least earlier on this year, as conservative. I'm curious, given the economic environment, if you'd still characterize it as conservative or not.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, I would say, I mentioned that it is cautious. I would say, given the economic environment, it's probably less conservative within that context. But nevertheless, it is still cautious, and we feel comfortable with the guidance that we are providing.

  • And I think that, as we look at our revenue, as you know, it has a high degree of predictability. So when we look at what we need to get there, we are comfortable with how we can get there.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • And, to make sure that I've got the numbers straight in terms of the M:Metrics contribution for the full year -- I'm sorry if you mentioned it. But what I have in my notes was $6.5 million to $7 million contribution expected for the full year --

  • John Green - CFO

  • (multiple speakers) a particular guidance for M:Metrics in these forecasts.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • I think what Troy is mentioning is that when we announced the M:Metrics, we said $6.5 million to $7 million. We still stand by -- I don't think we are going to change that estimate or actually provide any further color on the M:Metrics acquisition. I do want to point out that, actually, when we talked about the M:Metrics, we did not net out some expected mobile revenue that we would have gotten on a comScore stand-alone basis. So, to some extent, the net impact on comScore was a little bit lower than $6.5 million to $7 million, when you subtract some of the revenue that was going to be achieved with the product that we were planning that now is being picked up by M:Metrics.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • I was just attempting to bridge between your old guidance and your new guidance, and I was working under the assumption that you're going to see an extra $6.5 million to $7 million from M:Metrics, which would suggest a couple hundred thousand dollar increase in your full-year guidance range for revenue. Does that sound roughly accurate?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, it's not unreasonable.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • And as you think about the P&L composition going forward with M:Metrics included, should we expect to see a meaningful change in the different cost line items in terms of a percentage of revenue? Does the mix look a lot different there as we model the Company out going forward?

  • John Green - CFO

  • We feel, Troy, in terms of a running rate business, there's no reason why we should be replicating the EBITDA margins that we have given guidance on to the street in terms of our long-term targets. So there's nothing related to the M:Metrics business model that's going to, certainly, dilute the operating leverage in the margins of base comScore.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • And individual line items, you think, would look fairly similar in the long-term model?

  • John Green - CFO

  • Yes.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • So as we look into 2009, with the fourth quarter being the one in which M:Metrics starts to actually contribute to EBITDA, I would expect that the core comScore business on an adjusted EBITDA basis would have a significant improvement because you don't have the drag of M:Metrics, and then you would get the incremental, albeit maybe minor, contribution from M:Metrics? Am I thinking about '09 in the right way?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • I think in Q4 we said that M:Metrics will start contributing positively, but that's towards the end of the quarter, not for the entire quarter. So on a run rate as we exit the year, the adjusted EBITDA from M:Metrics we are forecasting out to be positive. But, as you look at the math for the fourth quarter, it will still be, on a reported basis, a little bit of the drag.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • And in 2009, M-Metrics -- would it be reasonable that it contributes to adjusted EBITDA for the full year?

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Yes.

  • John Green - CFO

  • Yes.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • We think that the inflection point is essentially December, and then after that it will be -- it will get -- it will have very similar characteristics to the rest of the comScore business.

  • Troy Mastin - Analyst

  • Is there any unusual seasonality to expect out of M:Metrics on a quarterly basis?

  • John Green - CFO

  • It's skewed towards the fourth quarter in terms of revenue.

  • Operator

  • (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) Jeetil Patel, Deutsche Bank.

  • Herman Lyon - Analyst

  • This is actually [Herman Lyon] calling for Jeetil. I wanted to check if you can give us an early read on the contract renewals that you guys plan to have. I think most of the contract renewals happen in the back half of the year. I was wondering if you could give some comments on July.

  • Second, I was wondering if you could talk about the number of product uptake that you have seen by your customers. Has that increased more on a relative basis, or has that trended the same?

  • John Green - CFO

  • As we've shared in the past, about 60% of our bookings occur in the second half of the year with a heavier skew towards the fourth quarter. And as we discussed earlier is that we haven't seen any impact from the economy or the overall industry conditions in our renewal rates. So we feel that we're on track in terms of continuing that trend during the balance of the year, and our guidance reflects that accordingly.

  • And then, as it relates to the up-selling, as we've again talked about, our existing customer revenue growth is up 37% to get very significant traction in terms of selling of our package of vast portfolio of products. And then our top 20 customers, as well, continue very strong, as well as continuing to build the next tiers of our business.

  • Herman Lyon - Analyst

  • Can you remind us what the average number of products that are being taken by your customers, again?

  • John Green - CFO

  • We are moving away from that metric. We just don't think that it's as meaningful, especially because the denominator is diluted by the strong pace of the new customer growth. And then, that process, as Magid will talk about, is that we have a real focus here in terms of looking at a package of products, rather than looking at individual product transactions.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • I think that, actually, that number has picked up slightly. So the main reason why we are moving away from it, is that some of the feedback we've been getting from clients is that some of the products that we're introducing really fit better as a package rather than as an individual product. So, to give you an example, Segment Metrix is a good segmentation tool that we've positioned as an individual upgrade to Media Metrix, which is fine. That's a good individual upgrade from Media Metrix.

  • But in reality, the people that want to have something like Segment Metrix are buying a number of planning-oriented services from us, and what they are looking for is actually a planning package that includes Media Metrix, Plan Metrix, Segment Metrix, reaching and frequency, et cetera, et cetera. So being client responsive, the one thing that we -- by taking this feedback into account, we think it's smarter for us to go with fewer choices, but choices that are packaged better toward a particular application or a particular complete solution that a client is asking us for.

  • So the benefit that that provides is that those packages illustrate the combined power of what comScore has to offer. So, when we are looking at a planning package, it is the best package that's out there and nobody can touch.

  • Herman Lyon - Analyst

  • I think, more recently, you guys had withdrew the paid search product from a lot of the sell-side guys in our community, that is. I was wondering -- and you also have a large financial contract falling off sometime in the second half, I think it's sometime in July. And, you have also opened up the ability to sell to the buy side. I was wondering if you can give us an update on how that's going and whether or not you have the ability to offset some of these contracts falling off.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • First of all, I think the contract you're talking about is Citadel. While we don't talk about specific customer contracts, we have renewed Citadel on a non-exclusive basis. Second, as you correctly mentioned, we are offering a product to more funds out there. And so far, the reception has been good, and we have a good pipeline. We have signed some contracts already.

  • As far as the paid click information, as far as the paid click information is concerned, we felt that that single number was generating so much attention in the press and on Wall Street and was causing so much distraction for management and our staff here that we believe that the individual elements that are needed here, which are the ad coverage, the market share, the average number of search queries, the enhancements that we're going to be making on an international basis are actually still very relevant for somebody that wants to model the search business.

  • But we just did not want to continue spending the time that it would take every time a number came out and there was an under-reaction or an overreaction to it. We just had to spend a lot of time, given the visibility of those numbers.

  • And I think that we're still providing the same data. People can get to what they want in terms of analyzing the search business. We've always been -- in modeling the search business, we've always been lacking the complete link to revenue, and in particular CPC has always been something that we have lagged. So, no matter what, there is always some gap between what we provide and the revenue estimate. We just wanted to make sure that when people are looking at the numbers now, they're not just looking at the single numbers. There are a number of factors, and it's not, comScore said, and that's the end of it, and then we have to go and spend all kinds of time trying to deal with the fallout of that.

  • Operator

  • We have no further questions in the queue at this time, gentlemen. I'd like to turn the conference back over to you for additional or closing remarks.

  • Magid Abraham - President & CEO

  • Well, thank you very much. We are obviously very pleased about the quarter and the performance of the business, and we are confident as we go through for the rest of the year. All of the indicators that we're looking at here are encouraging. We encourage people have questions to contact John and me after the conference over the next few days. With that, I want to thank everyone. And until the next quarter, thank you.

  • Operator

  • That does conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. Have a great day.