2009 is quickly approaching to an end. It is amazing how fast the year has gone by and even more amazing how much change has occurred in just one year.

Here are some of the topics that were covered here on LeadCritic this year:

• The loan modification industry came and went in 2009. Granted, it remains a popular vertical for many companies, it also can be said that there was a rush into the vertical and a large exodus shortly after by companies finding out they could not make it work.
• Companies like Experian, QuinStreet and so many others were forced to lay employees off
• There were acquisitions by companies like Tree.com and QuinStreet. The opportunity to acquire web properties, technologies and other assets at relatively fair values were taken advantage of.
• Tree.com not only used 2009 to add to their family of web properties, but also gave LendingTree a bold new look and message.
• LendingTree files a suit against long time service partner MorTech for allegedly passing along proprietary data to Google and breaking their exclusivity agreement.
• A month later LT dropped the suit.
• TargusInfo officially  announced AdAdvisor and puts Behavioral Targeting and Consumer re-targeting on its head. The results from bridging offline and online data to power ad serving will be extremely exciting to see in 2010.
• Dave Wengel of TargusInfo, who brought lead verification as we know it, decides to move on to partner with Jay Weintraub, founder of LeadsCon.
• The FTC regulates claims made by bloggers, celebrity endorsements and tries to shut down Floggers.
• The case of LG Technologies VS Shin and others comes to the forefront as one of the largest and possibly the first publicly covered case allegedly involving theft and fraud by an employee.
• Then of course the big daddy of 2009, the release of Comparison Ads by Google. 2010 could possibly be a very big year for Comparison Ads. With any luck lead gen companies will step up to the plate and develop an answer to Comparison Ads that will be bigger and better for the consumer.
• Finally, QuinStreet files for their IPO and may help put Lead Generation model on the map again.

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One of the biggest lead generation scandals of the year is going to continue into 2010, but it is not going to leave 2009 without one more big break in the case.

A brief review of the case can be found here and here.

If you are familiar with the case you will remember that in Shin’s deceleration he claimed payment of $150,000, that mysteriously ended up in his bank account from LeadPoint, back to LG Technologies. According to new documents made public by the court, Shin is now being charged with Perjury and Contempt. According to bank statements provided by US Bank, the cashiers checks Shin claimed were made out to LG Technologies were actually made out to the Wynn Hotel. That is correct. Shin’s copy and paste skills were not enough to keep this lie out of the courts and could possibly destroy his whole defense.

This is a huge break for LG Technologies and clearly shows that Shin has lied at least once with details of is claims.

You can view the two court documents and the bad checks here and here.

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After a taking a week off for the Thanksgiving, which I hope you all enjoyed, I was welcomed back with a very interesting announcement that should peak the curiosity of every person in the lead gen industry.

Today, TargusInfo announced that Dave Wengel, General Manager of their Interactive Markets division will be stepping down. Dave was not only the GM of the Interactive division but also co-founded the idea of real time data verification. This ground breaking service changed the industry forever and for that I consider Dave to be one of the most influential people in our industry.

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Has this year flown by or what?!?!

Crazy to think the year is almost over! Nevertheless, I am excited for 2010. I think the year is going to be huge for the Lead Generation space. The evolution is in full force and my early prediction is that the consumer acquisition processes is going to look a lot different this time next year. I don’t think that is a huge prediction with the recent move by Google. My guess is that their introduction of Comparison Ads is going to light a fire under many of the lead gen companies out there. Who is in position to make the quickest adjustments? I think LendingTree has the best opportunity to provide an answer to Comparison Ads. Their goal of being the hub for all of life’s most important decisions could be achieved by combining many of their portals. I also think companies like Mint could, if they wanted to, enter into the lead gen space like no other company can. Regardless, it is going to be a very interesting 2010.

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Last week Mortech put out a press release announcing that there were big things to come in 2010 from their company. The release follows the dismissal of a lawsuit brought on by former business partner LendingTree. We all know about the LendingTree/Mortech suit so there is no need to go into it again, but if you are not aware you can get your self caught up here and here.

This announcement is interesting and humorous at the same time, because clearly has an underlying  agenda. Here is what I interpreted it to be saying, “Yeah, we got the shake down from LT. Yes, they don’t want to work with us any longer, but we are still going to serve their clients and guess what, we are still going to work with Search Engines. In fact, we are also going to take our technology and build out our own rate marketplace and compete directly against you.” This was no kiss and make up press release. Here are a few key snippets:

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In May of this year I revealed an interesting case between a lead generation company and a few of its key employees. The case, which you can read about here in my original post, included allegations of fraud, embezzlement and contract infringement, now has a few new updates to mention.

Today the Riverside County Sheriffs department has released information on their website (Case #TE092660124) that they have taken Edward Shin into custody. Shin has been given a $575,000 bail. Details below:

I am not an attorney nor have I ever studied the Law, but according to the court documents listed here (Once you log in you can search LG Technologies and the case info will come up) it would appear as though LeadPoint has also filed a cross complaint against Shin on 9/11/09. The details of this complaint are unknown, but I will keep you posted as the case proceeds and try to provide details when they are available.

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It’s the same old story no matter what vertical you work in. The biggest reason for failed attempts at integrating internet leads is NOT the quality of the leads.It is the lack of proper lead management.

This is obviously not something new for most readers of this blog and could possibly be considered the biggest topic on this blog. The issue continues to arise in posts because I continually come across companies that fail, waste thousands of dollars and then eventually go out of business. The issue with lead management is that it is composed of a number of different pieces and without all the pieces in place you are losing money.

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A little over a two years ago – by only a few weeks mind you – SmartHippo announced their beta launch to the world. Since that launch SmartHippo as continued to grow and evolve into a very interesting platform for consumers looking for the lowest rates. The combination of consumer feedback, ratings and bank posted interest rates gives an interesting spin on the evolution of transparency in the industry. The mortgage crisis hasn’t been nice for many start ups in the industry but SmartHippo continues to make big strides in their continued evolution.

Today they announced two very big developments. 1. The naming of former LendingTree General Manager, Lori Collins as their new CEO. 2. The expansion into the Spanish market with launch of HipoListo.es.

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QuinStreet has been on the website purchasing prowl for a over a year now picking up mortgage, BtoB and now insurance related sites. The most recent acquisition was announced Friday and included the purchase of the domain insure.com and its content for $16m.

That is right $16m.

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The lead generation space can be compared to the wild wild west of advertising. The barriers to entry for lead providers are fairly low and becoming lower and lower every year. Just about anyone can start a lead gen company by aggregating the leads and reselling them or by actually generating the leads themselves. The demand for leads are high and either the lack of quality or the inability to close the leads keeps this demand for new sources on the rise.

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This is a great addition for LeadPoint, who seems to be on the rebound and seeing positive growth. Take a look at the press release below.

LOS ANGELES, CA — 09/29/09 — LeadPoint (http://www.leadpoint.com), the world’s first and largest online lead exchange, today announced that Raj Parekh has joined the company as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. In this role Parekh, who has over 10 years of business development experience with customers and vendors, will be responsible for growing LeadPoint’s top accounts within its data and voice lead products and evangelizing the value and efficiency of purchasing leads through LeadPoint’s exchange.

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Before I get to the Day 2 recap, I gotta show you a few pics of the networking event on Day 1. It was hands down the best networking event at a conference that I have attended. Aside from the open bar and excellent appetizers, the event was accompanied by an excellent ’80’s cover band. They rocked the event out and put on a great show! Classic!

Here are a couple of photos from the iPhone. One includes my Business Development manager at Geary Interactive. lol

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