Yodle

About Yodle

Yodle provided online marketing services tailored for small and local businesses, a market segment often underserved by complex digital advertising solutions. The company was established in 2005 by a group of co-founders including Nathaniel Stevens, Ben Rubenstein, John Berkowitz, Kartik Hosanagar, and Bobby Lo. The initial concept originated from Stevens' experience at his father's car dealership, where he identified the untapped potential of using search engine ads to generate direct business leads, a departure from the then-common practice of buying leads from third-party sites.

The founders, many of whom were childhood friends or connected through the University of Pennsylvania, bootstrapped the company for the first two years, initially going door-to-door to sell their services. This early hands-on approach helped validate their business model directly with customers before seeking significant investment. The company's name, Yodle, was chosen to evoke the idea of a 'yodel' or a shout-out for small businesses. A significant evolution occurred when Wharton professor Kartik Hosanagar joined, applying his algorithmic expertise to automate and scale the process of keyword bidding on search engines, transforming Yodle from a services-based company into a scalable technology platform. In 2007, Court Cunningham, formerly of DoubleClick, was appointed CEO and led the company through a period of substantial growth.

Yodle's business model was centered on providing a comprehensive suite of digital marketing tools as a subscription service, effectively acting as a 'marketing department in a box' for small businesses that lacked the time and expertise to manage their online presence. Revenue was generated from these subscription packages. The core product, Marketing Essentials™, integrated a mobile-optimized web presence, social media management, customer review collection, email marketing, and SEO automation. As a complementary offering, Yodle Ads provided proprietary paid search advertising campaigns. The company also developed Lighthouse 360™, a business automation tool for daily client interactions like appointment reminders, and Centermark™, a marketing automation platform for franchises and multi-location businesses. A pivotal moment in Yodle's history was its acquisition by Web.com in February 2016 for approximately $342 million, marking a successful exit for the founders and investors.