The company was investigated in 2012 by 20 U.S. states for using deceptive marketing tactics to promote for-profit schools to U.S. veterans. QuinStreet agreed to pay $2.5 million and made several changes to its practices to end the investigation.
QuinStreet divested their education client vertical on August 31, 2020.[1]
History
QuinStreet was formed in 1999 by Doug Valenti (chairman and CEO). Bronwyn Syiek, another founding team member, was president and COO. The company was first profitable in 2002 with revenues of $13 million; by April 2009, QuinStreet reported $300 million in annual revenues and approximately 450 employees.[2][3]
QuinStreet Inc. acquired U.S. Citizens for Fair Credit Card Terms, Inc, which operated the CardRatings.com website in August 2008 for an initial cash payment of $10.4 million.[4]
In the beginning of August 2009, QuinStreet Inc. used some of its cash reserves to acquire the Internet.com division of WebMediaBrands Inc. for $18 million.[5][6]
In September 2009, QuinStreet purchased Insure.com for $16 million.[7] The company's other financial-services properties include MoneyRates.com, Get Rich Slowly, ConsumerismCommentary.com and HSH.com.[8]
An initial public offering on February 11, 2010, raised $150 million, with the shares listed on Nasdaq under the symbol QNST.[9]
In September 2011, QuinStreet acquired the IT Business Edge (ITBE) network of web publications[10]
In February 2012, the company acquired the media assets of Ziff Davis "Enterprise", which included eWeek.com, CIOInsight.com, Baseline.com, ChannelInsider.com and WebBuyersGuide.com, and others.[11]
In 2018, the company acquired AmOne, an online marketing company.[12] In 2019, Quinstreet acquired CloudControlMedia, LLC and MyBankTracker.com, LLC.[12][13][14]
In 2020, QuinStreet sold its B2B tech publications to TechnologyAdvice.[15]
Deceptive advertising investigation and settlement
