In the history of the world, stories like David and Goliath are abundant. Hollywood has always cheered us on to root for the underdog, and we respond because our genuine, heartfelt sympathies always lie with the little guy. We want him to win because everyone deserves a shot at the top. The business world is no different. We have companies that make products and services which can perform as well as those made by the giants in industry, though the companies themselves may not be able to compete as successfully. If you aren’t afraid, and have the heart, you may be interested in one of those little guys; a company named NeXplore Corporation.
NeXplore is a new Internet search company whose mission is to radically improve the online experience. Its flagship product NeXplore Search™ is an innovative social search engine that makes finding information on the Internet more personal, more efficient, and worlds more fun. The company is inviting users to discover a visually engaging, user-friendly, multi-media interface that makes navigation effortless.
NeXplore is hoping to generate its revenues from advertising, and Internet advertising is booming. According to The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Internet advertising revenues for the first half of 2007 reached $10 billion. Ad revenues remained concentrated with the leading ad-selling companies like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) and MSN (NASDAQ:MSFT), which accounted for 70 percent of total revenues in the second quarter of 2007.
Google is established as the unrivaled king of the online advertising universe with Yahoo! in second place. But the race is not over according to David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst, “Google acknowledged that even though paid search gives it a robust revenue stream, that alone won’t be enough to compete against Yahoo!, MSN and other major players in the years to come.”
So how can NeXplore become one of those major players? It started the process last year by launching an Ads program called NeXplore Ads™, a full-lifecycle ad creation and management platform that enables marketers to effortlessly create, manage and modify in real-time highly targeted, interactive search advertising campaigns. The company plans to receive a significant portion of its revenue from selling advertising space on its portal and allowing third parties to provide sponsored services and placements on the portal under sponsorship agreements. The NeXplore Ads™ pilot program is currently underway with several advertisers.
The company also has several other products under development which are anticipated to go live in 2008. The new products include: HitLabel.com™, a cool new web destination offering music contests and providing musicians with viral tools for promoting their work and staying in tune with their fans; MyCircle.com™, a universally accessible social computing platform providing users with a highly customizable interface for managing every facet of their online activity; and AdCircle™, an online classified advertising platform that provides a more enjoyable and productive experience for buyers and sellers alike. The company has also received $250,000 as a prepayment from a customer for advertising, and signed a contract with Yahoo! Search Marketing, which includes revenue sharing provisions relating to advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads.
NeXplore’s plan of operation for the next twelve months is to continue development and release of its products, and to increase brand awareness. In order to get up that hill and compete with the giants, NeXplore will first have to deal with its own difficulties. It is still a development stage company with no operating history, which makes an evaluation of its business and prospects very difficult. Since inception the company has generated no revenues and suffered recurring losses and net cash outflows from operations. Operating loss for the year ended June 30, 2007 was $4,193,148. It has funded operations through common and preferred stock issuances, a small line of credit guaranteed by an officer, and related party loans in order to meet strategic objectives. This capital has been, and will be, used to fund further software product development, introductory marketing campaigns, and operating expenses.
NeXplore’s primary competitors are Internet search and retrieval companies who have longer operating histories in the Internet market, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources. But sometimes the underdog surprises us. Nexplore has not let the “Big Bad Wolf” scare it, and its plan of attack is still in full swing. Its goal is to attract 10,000,000 visitors to NeXplore Search by the close of third quarter by sending out 30 million personalized electronic invitations per month, enticing demographically targeted end users to try out the new search engine. If the visitors come, and more than likely they will – even if it just to see how much better NeXplore is compared to other search engines – then NeXplore may have a better story to tell.
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