Businessmodel of IAC

Customer Segments

IAC serves various unrelated customer segments that have different needs. Its two customer groups are as follows:

• Consumers: Units serving consumers comprise the majority of IAC’s offerings; they include Match Group (mostly dating services), Applications (desktop and mobile applications), Video (video websites), and Other (retail websites).
• Businesses: This primarily consists of its IAC’s Partnerships unit, which includes B2B partnership operations, and its HomeAdvisor segment, whose main customer is home service professionals. ### Value Proposition

IAC offers two primary value propositions: accessibility and brand/status.

The company owns over 20 operating businesses comprising more than 150 brands and products. The diversity of these offerings provide a wide variety of options for consumers and businesses; e.g., IAC’s dating sites range from Match.com and OKCupid to HowAboutWe and Tinder.

The company has a strong reputation in the media industry because of its long and successful history. Its portfolio features some of the world’s most recognized brands, includingThe Daily Beast, Vimeo, and Ask.com. Its websites for these properties generate two billion monthly visits from 370 million unique users in over 190 countries; further, its mobile apps have been downloaded 100 million times.

Channels

IAC’s main channel are its spectrum of homepages and the various social media websites through which it markets its offerings. The company also utilizes e-mail campaigns.

Moreover, it uses offline options to promote its brands, particularly TV advertising and public relations efforts such as events.

Customer Relationships

IAC’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service nature. Customers visit its family of websites and use its apps while having limited interaction with employees.

That said, there is a personal assistance component as it does have a team of customer service staff ready to answer questions.

Key Activities

IAC’s key activities focus on platform management. The company’s operations primarily entail managing its various web properties and their corresponding mobile apps.

Key Partners

As part of its Partnerships business, IAC works with firms in the in the media, software, and other industries to design and develop personalized browser‑based search applications to be bundled and distributed with their services and products.

It also has a high-profile partner in Google, with which it has had an agreement since 2001. Under their alliance, Google provides IAC and its partners with sponsored listings and other search-related services for display on desktop and mobile platforms.

Key Resources

IAC’s main resource is its employee base in the technical and content realms. These workers are responsible for designing its websites and writing the information featured on them. It also relies on other human resources in the form of its customer service staff.

Cost Structure

IAC has a cost-driven structure. The company limits cost through significant self-service and automation and limited personal interaction with its employees. Its biggest cost driver is selling/marketing expenses, a fixed cost that is an area of heavy investment. Other major drivers are administrative and product development expenses, both fixed costs.

Revenue Streams

IAC has three revenue streams, which are as follows:

• Subscription fees: The company derives recurring fees from its membership services (e.g., Match Group dating sites)
• Product/service sales:  The company derives one-time payments from its products/services for sale (e.g., ShoeBuy and Princeton Review classes)
• Advertising: The company obtains payments for advertising across all of its online properties, particularly within the segments of Publishing and Applications.