Blend to Help Drive Continued Expansion of the Company’s Content &
Media and Domain Registration Services
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2012--
Demand
Media® (NYSE: DMD), a leading digital media company, announced today
the promotion of Michael Blend to president and chief operating officer,
expanding his current responsibilities overseeing content and media to
include leading the company’s domain registration services. He will
continue to report to chairman and chief executive officer, Richard
Rosenblatt, and the move will be effective August 16.
As president and COO, Blend will add to his current role the operational
management and oversight of the company’s registrar services and the
launch of its new registry services. This follows his promotion in late
2011 to lead the company’s content and media group, which includes owned
and operated sites such as eHow.com, LIVESTRONG.COM and
Cracked.com, and the company’s network of customer websites.
“Michael’s leadership will be instrumental as we continue to build upon
our successful growth in content and media, as well as embark on a new
era of internet domain expansion,” said Demand Media chairman and CEO
Richard Rosenblatt. “Michael brings deep experience and proven success
leading both of these teams. I couldn’t be more pleased to have his
committed leadership in place to oversee our continued growth and
innovation on both fronts.”
Blend brings two decades of technology experience to his role as
president and chief operating officer. He has most recently been leading
Demand Media’s content and media services for owned and operated
properties, and before that he led the company's eNom registrar services
group. Prior to joining the company, Michael was founder and CEO of
Hotkeys, a technology firm acquired by Demand Media. He previously
served as vice president of corporate development of Jawbone and vice
president of business and corporate development for WeddingChannel.com.
Michael began his career as the co-founder of Darwin Keyboards, a
computer hardware developer. Blend holds a JD from the University of
Chicago and a double BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke
University. He also holds a patent in the field of computer hardware
design.
About Demand Media
Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD) is a leading digital media company that
informs and entertains one of the internet’s largest audiences, helps
advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and
enables publishers to expand their online presence. Headquartered in
Santa Monica, CA, Demand Media has offices in North America, South
America and Europe. For more information about Demand Media, please
visit www.demandmedia.com
Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's
future financial performance, and are based on current expectations,
estimates and projections about our industry, financial condition,
operating performance and results of operations, including certain
assumptions related thereto. Statements containing words such as
“guidance,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,”
“project,” “projections,” “business outlook,” and “estimate” or similar
expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results
may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results
should not be considered an indication of future performance. Potential
risks and uncertainties include, among others: changes in the
methodologies of internet search engines, including ongoing algorithmic
changes made by Google to its search results as well as possible future
changes, and the impact such changes may have on page view growth and
driving search related traffic to our owned and operated websites and
the websites of our network customers; changes in our content creation
and distribution platform, including the possible repurposing of content
to alternate distribution channels, or the sale or removal of content;
our ability to successfully launch, produce and monetize new content
formats; the inherent challenges of estimating the overall impact on
page views and search driven traffic to our owned and operated websites
based on the data available to us as Google continues to make
adjustments to its search algorithms; our ability to compete with new or
existing competitors; our ability to maintain or increase our
advertising revenue; our ability to continue to drive and grow traffic
to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network
customers; our ability to effectively monetize our portfolio of content;
our dependence on material agreements with a specific business partner
for a significant portion of our revenue; future internal rates of
return on content investment and our decision to invest in different
types of content in the future, including video and other formats of
text content; our ability to attract and retain freelance creative
professionals; changes in our level of investment in media content
intangibles; the effects of changes in marketing expenditures or shifts
in marketing expenditures; the effects of seasonality on traffic to our
owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers;
our ability to continue to add partners to our registrar platform on
competitive terms; our ability to successfully pursue and implement our
gTLD initiative; changes in stock-based compensation; changes in
amortization or depreciation expense due to a variety of factors;
potential write downs, reserves against or impairment of assets
including receivables, goodwill, intangibles, and media content or other
assets; changes in tax laws, our business or other factors that would
impact anticipated tax benefits or expenses; our ability to successfully
identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions, including integrating
our recent acquisitions; our ability to retain key customers and key
personnel; risks associated with litigation; the impact of governmental
regulation; and the effects of discontinuing or discontinued business
operations. From time to time, we may consider acquisitions or
divestitures that, if consummated, could be material. Any
forward-looking statements regarding financial metrics are based upon
the assumption that no such acquisition or divestiture is consummated
during the relevant periods. If an acquisition or divestiture
were consummated, actual results could differ materially from any
forward-looking statements. More information about potential risk
factors that could affect our operating and financial results are
contained in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2011 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov)
on February 24, 2012, and as such risk factors may be updated in our
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including, without limitation, information under the
captions “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Furthermore, as discussed above, the Company does not intend to
revise or update the information set forth in this press release, except
as required by law, and may not provide this type of information in the
future.
Source: Demand Media, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Demand Media
Julie MacMedan
(310)
917-6485
Julie.MacMedan@demandmedia.com
or
Media
Contact:
Demand Media
Kristen Moore
(310) 917-6432
Kristen.Moore@demandmedia.com
