InterActiveCorp bolstered its local advertising capabilities Friday with the purchase of ServiceMagic, an online marketplace for home-related services. Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed.
ServiceMagic, Golden, CO, operates a Web site that connects homeowners with prescreened contractors, roofers, fence and deck builders and other home-related services. Consumers fill out a short questionnaire that ServiceMagic uses to match them with a local service provider fitting their needs.
IAC plans to operate ServiceMagic as a separate entity within its local and media services division, which includes Citysearch and Evite. ServiceMagic raised $48 million in capital and said it was profitable last year on $20 million in sales.
ServiceMagic gives IAC a further foothold in the local online ad market. Citysearch has been a forerunner in local search, offering performance-based listings to restaurants and bars.
“The migration of local advertising from offline to online has tremendous growth potential and is applicable to hundreds of industries, but has been realized by only a few,” Anne Busquet, CEO of IAC's local services division, said in a statement.
ServiceMagic is a reseller for Yahoo unit Overture Services' recently launched local paid listings program, Local Match.
