InfoUSA Inc.: The genie is out of the bottle

The genie is out of the bottle and infoUSA Inc. (Nasdaq: IUSA) is determined to make sure the spirits are allowed to continue to roam free.

With the slogan “unlimited sales leads,” the Salesgenie.com data service is just one high-profile example of how infoUSA is commoditizing its 30-plus years of data collection—this being an effort that targets smaller businesses and entrepreneurs seeking sales leads.

Founded with a $100 investment in 1972 by the chairman and chief executive officer, Vin Gupta, infoUSA compiles several proprietary databases that contain information on most businesses and households in the United States and Canada. Most of the work is handled out of its headquarters in Papillion, Neb., with some operations in India.

About two-thirds of the information in the infoUSA databases is updated annually. There are more than four million clients using infoUSA data, which includes 210 million consumers, 75 million homeowners, 11.4 million executives—and in this age of crumbling mortgage markets and a sluggish economy, 8.5 million bankruptcies.

In late 2006, infoUSA completed the acquisition of Opinion Research, a research and consulting firm that for nearly 80 years has provided survey research services to the private and public sector. Another infoUSA subsidiary is Yesmail, an e-mail marketing company that gives companies the resources to dish up permission-based online solicitations. It’s also eyeing the potential of the United Kingdom and Australia.

For the large Fortune 1000-type clients, infoUSA distributes its data bases and services through the Donnelley Group, a marketing firm with 90-year-old roots based on phone books, acquired in 1999.

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