Yodle, Inc
Encyclopedia
Yodle, originally named Natpal , was founded in 2005 by Nathaniel Stevens
while attending The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
. Nathaniel then teamed up with friends Ben Rubenstein, John Berkowitz, Milind Mehere as well as one of his professors at Wharton, Dr. Kartik Hosanagar, to build the business.
While working at his father’s car dealership in Connecticut on online advertising, Nathaniel saw a gap in the local lead generation market. He came up with a system that would use a unique bidding algorithm developed to optimize online search for local businesses and drive new business leads. The system also included the ability to track the leads, in the form of phone calls and emails, so local businesses can quantify the results. Yodle made its first sale to a Philadelphia optical business in the winter of 2005.
Yodle provides advertising services to small businesses. The company is funded by JAFCO, Bessemer Venture Partners
, Draper Fischer Jurvetson, and Draper Fischer Jurvetson Growth. From these initial investors, Yodle has raised 4 rounds of funding totaling $38 million.
Based in New York
, Yodle has regional offices in Charlotte, NC; Scottsdale, AZ; Philadelphia, PA; and Boston, MA. Yodle’s CEO is Court Cunningham, who previously held positions at Community Connect and DoubleClick
.
In April 2010, Yodle CEO Court Cunningham worked with Wiley Publishing, of the Dummies Series, to write Local Online Advertising for Dummies., a reference book for small businesses who want to learn more about online advertising. Some of the topics covered in the book include consumer trends and the local online advertising landscape, planning an advertising campaign, building a website, measuring advertising results, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social networks and social media, banner ads, and email marketing. The book has 364 pages.
In May 2010, Yodle was a Lead411 Hot 125 Winner.
In June 2010, Yodle received a Stevie Awards
. The company was a finalist in the two previous years.
In January 2010, Yodle was an AlwaysOn OnMedia Top 100 Winner.
In 2009, the company was #37 on the SAI
Top 50.
, Yahoo!
, and Bing
and across a local advertising network which includes directory, local, and Yellow Pages sites. Yodle’s paid search advertising product also includes a lead tracking platform called Yodle Live and call recording for local business clients.
Search Engine Optimization: In early 2010 Yodle launched its second product, called Yodle Organic , which utilizes a set of best practices to get websites to rank on search engines for relevant keywords. In addition, this product includes local business maps listings, content creation and syndication, and social media management.
Yodle Display: In 2011, Yodle launched its first display advertising product. The first release of Yodle Display is meant for Franchise and multi-location businesses. Yodle Display uses contextual targeting on sites that have content related to an advertiser's services and also retargeting of individuals who previously visited an advertiser's website.
Website Creation and Hosting: Yodle offers website creation and hosting for local businesses that purchase Yodle Sponsored or Yodle Organic.
Nathaniel Stevens
Nathaniel Vincent Stevens is an American media and advertising entrepreneur based in New York. Nathaniel is the Founder of , an online provider of small business marketing services and lead generation.- Education & Early Life :...
while attending The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Nathaniel then teamed up with friends Ben Rubenstein, John Berkowitz, Milind Mehere as well as one of his professors at Wharton, Dr. Kartik Hosanagar, to build the business.
While working at his father’s car dealership in Connecticut on online advertising, Nathaniel saw a gap in the local lead generation market. He came up with a system that would use a unique bidding algorithm developed to optimize online search for local businesses and drive new business leads. The system also included the ability to track the leads, in the form of phone calls and emails, so local businesses can quantify the results. Yodle made its first sale to a Philadelphia optical business in the winter of 2005.
Yodle provides advertising services to small businesses. The company is funded by JAFCO, Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners is a private venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Massachusetts, Israel, China, and India.Bessemer Venture Partners is the longest-standing venture capital practice in the United States...
, Draper Fischer Jurvetson, and Draper Fischer Jurvetson Growth. From these initial investors, Yodle has raised 4 rounds of funding totaling $38 million.
Based in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Yodle has regional offices in Charlotte, NC; Scottsdale, AZ; Philadelphia, PA; and Boston, MA. Yodle’s CEO is Court Cunningham, who previously held positions at Community Connect and DoubleClick
DoubleClick
DoubleClick is a subsidiary of Google that develops and provides Internet ad serving services. Its clients include agencies, marketers and publishers who serve customers like Microsoft, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Motorola, L'Oréal, Palm, Inc., Apple Inc., Visa USA, Nike, Carlsberg among others...
.
In April 2010, Yodle CEO Court Cunningham worked with Wiley Publishing, of the Dummies Series, to write Local Online Advertising for Dummies., a reference book for small businesses who want to learn more about online advertising. Some of the topics covered in the book include consumer trends and the local online advertising landscape, planning an advertising campaign, building a website, measuring advertising results, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social networks and social media, banner ads, and email marketing. The book has 364 pages.
Awards
In August 2010, Yodle was ranked #35 on the Inc. 500 list.In May 2010, Yodle was a Lead411 Hot 125 Winner.
In June 2010, Yodle received a Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards
The Stevie Awards were created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the efforts, accomplishments, and positive contributions of companies and business people worldwide...
. The company was a finalist in the two previous years.
In January 2010, Yodle was an AlwaysOn OnMedia Top 100 Winner.
In 2009, the company was #37 on the SAI
SAI
SAI is an acronym for:*The New York Stock Exchange Symbol for Science Applications International Corporation*SAI a graphics painting program for Microsoft Windows*Sailfish...
Top 50.
Acquisition of ProfitFuel, Inc.
On May 24, 2011, Yodle announced the acquisition of ProfitFuel, Inc., an Austin, TX based company that specializes in local search engine optimization.Products and Services
Search Engine Marketing: Since 2005 Yodle has had a paid search advertising product called Sponsored, which distributes ads on search engines including GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, and Bing
Bing
Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft.Bing may also refer to:* An onomatopœia of a bell sound* Bing cherry, a variety of cherry* Bing , Chinese flatbread* Bing , a German company that manufactured toys and kitchen utensils...
and across a local advertising network which includes directory, local, and Yellow Pages sites. Yodle’s paid search advertising product also includes a lead tracking platform called Yodle Live and call recording for local business clients.
Search Engine Optimization: In early 2010 Yodle launched its second product, called Yodle Organic , which utilizes a set of best practices to get websites to rank on search engines for relevant keywords. In addition, this product includes local business maps listings, content creation and syndication, and social media management.
Yodle Display: In 2011, Yodle launched its first display advertising product. The first release of Yodle Display is meant for Franchise and multi-location businesses. Yodle Display uses contextual targeting on sites that have content related to an advertiser's services and also retargeting of individuals who previously visited an advertiser's website.
Website Creation and Hosting: Yodle offers website creation and hosting for local businesses that purchase Yodle Sponsored or Yodle Organic.