History

The core of IAC relates to the way our brands interact to create a better experience for our customers and more value for our shareholders. It also references the interaction that takes place between consumers and their computers and mobile phones with the advent of the internet. IAC was founded on the idea that this kind of "interactivity" would transform the way consumers access and use products and services, creating new markets and ways of doing business never before imagined.

Acquisition and Divestitures Timeline.

IAC's Entrepreneurial Roots

CITYSEARCH - In 1995 in Pasadena, CA, internet icons Charles Conn and Bill Gross of idealab! realized that one of the biggest opportunities on the web is in local information. Armed with the knowledge that 90% of people's time and money are spent right where they live, they partnered and launched Citysearch, choosing Raleigh-Durham, NC as the first market. By 2000, Citysearch offered services and information for all U.S. ZIP codes.

SERVICEMAGIC - In 1998, two bagelmakers were sitting in a former men's club dining room debating the merits of the Amazon and eBay business models. They agreed that the latter - getting paid for facilitating communication between buyer and seller without physically touching the product was compelling and scalable. They searched the sectors of the U.S. economy looking for an inefficient marketplace. They discovered that the local service industry was dominated by small, unbranded businesses with a high rate of turnover and that the home improvement, repair and maintenance industry had an incredibly high rate of customer dissatisfaction. Believing they could create an efficient marketplace for buying and selling home improvement services, they launched what is now ServiceMagic.

COLLEGEHUMOR - In 1999, high school friends Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen headed off to different colleges. In an effort to stay in touch, they created a website where they would post and share funny photos and stories about college life. As more and more friends flocked to read the latest humorous posting, CollegeHumor.com was born. The site soon became the de facto online entertainment and humor site for 18-34 year old males. They eventually created a video sharing site and began selling t-shirts and other college-oriented merchandise, all of which they housed under their umbrella company, Connected Ventures.

AND THEN CAME BARRY DILLER

In 1992, after an illustrious career in the entertainment industry as an executive at ABC and Chairman of Paramount Pictures, Barry Diller shocked the world by quitting his job as head of Fox. Soon after this noteworthy decision, he bought a stake in home shopping network QVC after he saw his best friend and future wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, sell 29,000 clothing items to 19,000 customers for a total of $1.2 million in less than two hours on the air. This marked the genesis of his move into the interactive space.

In 1995, Barry Diller was named Chairman and CEO of Silver King Communications, Inc., which would later evolve into IAC. Within the first year, Silver King merged with Home Shopping Network and Savoy Pictures Entertainment and was renamed HSN, Inc. From that point, he continued to build the company through a series of acquisitions and divestitures, including:

• In 1997, the company acquires 50% of Ticketmaster Group, Inc.
• In 1998, it acquired USA Network, SCI FI and Universal domestic TV. The company was renamed USA Networks, Inc. and began trading on the Nasdaq as USAI. Also in 1998, Ticketmaster Online merged with Citysearch to form Ticketmaster Online Citysearch, Inc. (TMCS).
• In 1999, USAI acquires Hotel Reservations Network (later renamed Hotels.com) and TMCS acquired Match.com and the Sidewalk city guides from Microsoft.
• In 2002, USAI acquired TV Travel Group, Interval International and a controlling interest in Expedia.
• In 2003, USAI acquired Entertainment Publications, Inc.; uDate.com; LendingTree; Hotwire; RealEstate.com; GetSmart; and the remainder of Ticketmaster, Expedia and Hotels.com. The company is renamed InterActiveCorp.
• In 2004, IAC acquired TripAdvisor Inc.; ServiceMagic, Inc; and Home Loan Center. The company was renamed IAC/InterActiveCorp.
• In 2005, IAC acquired AskJeeves, Inc. and Cornerstone Brands, Inc. In August, the company completed the spin-off of its travel businesses under the name Expedia, Inc.

IAC Becomes an Operating Company

In 2006, IAC began its move from a holding company to an operating company by establishing a President and Chief Operating Officer and appointing LendingTree founder Doug Lebda to the position. At the same time, IAC Programming, a division designed to develop, incubate and grow original content sites aimed at niche audiences across the web, was formed. Michael Jackson, former head of USA Networks, Chairman of Universal Television Group and CEO of UK's Channel Four was appointed President.

Functioning as an operating company, IAC began tapping its internal talent for new business ideas and, as a result, launched its first home-grown business Gifts.com in March 2005. This move was later followed by many new launches including Chemistry.com (February 2006), Pronto (September 2006), Very Short List (November 2006), 23/6 (November 2007) and RushmoreDrive (April 2008).

At the same time, it began looking for and finding natural synergies across many of its many existing businesses. Less than a year after its acquisition, in March 2006, AskJeeves was relaunched as Ask.com with a new site design and improved search capabilities. In December 2006, IAC launched its first major product integration, AskCity, a new product from Ask.com that integrated content from then key IAC brands including Citysearch, ServiceMagic, ReserveAmerica, Ticketmaster and TicketWeb. In May of 2007, the company launched AskMobile GPS, an application for GPS enabled mobile phones featuring the best of Ask.com, Citysearch and Evite.com, along with an instant location finder and turn-by-turn navigation. IAC also continued its acquisition and divestiture strategy in 2007, acquiring Shoebuy.com and a controlling interest in Connected Ventures, LLC., and completing the sale of PRC.

New IAC Emerges

In November 2007, IAC announced a plan to spin-off HSN, Interval, Ticketmaster and LendingTree into separate, publicly-traded companies... leaving its core of internet businesses to share resources and grow. In preparation for the new IAC, tactical acquisitions and corporate modifications facilitated this process. In January 2008, Doug Lebda returned to LendingTree (later renamed Tree.com) and was appointed Chairman and CEO of the Financial Services and Real Estate businesses. Shortly thereafter, IAC reorganized its Mergers & Acquisitions operation.

In May 2008, Ask.com acquired Lexico, owner of Dictionary.com, Thesauras.com and Reference.com expanding the company's reach and aligning itself with user needs. Match.com partnered with two new international companies, ninesman and Terra, reiterating Match's stance as the global leader in online dating. IAC Consumer Applications and Portals acquired GirlSense bringing IACCAP to the forefront of virtual teen fashion and social networking. To further streamline the business as it prepared to become a pure play internet company, in June 2008, IAC completed the sale of Entertainment Publications, Inc.

In August 2008, IAC completed the spin-offs of HSN, Inc. (HSNI), Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (IILG), Ticketmaster (TKTM) and Tree.com (TREE) with each individual company trading publicly as of August 21, 2008.

After working to leverage inherent synergies across IAC, the company embarked upon this major corporate restructuring to not only unlock value across all brands for shareholders, but to give some of the major businesses, operating in independent industries, a chance to compete within the appropriate competitive landscape. What remains is the "new" IAC... an internet company mastering expertise in online advertising, content distribution and monetization across the web.

A HISTORY OF FIRSTS

• HSN originates electronic retailing

• Match.com created the online dating category
• Ticketmaster.com is the first to bring ticketing to the web
• Interval International is the first vacation exchange company to establish a presence on the web

• Ask Jeeves is the first company to enable search using Natural Language Search Technology, which allows people to ask questions in plain English and changes the ways people access information on the web

• LendingTree.com is the first to create a way for banks to compete for customers' business
• Evite pioneers online invitation and social-event planning, and is the only online invitation site to survive the dot-com bust in 2000
• Ticketmaster conducts the first-ever online ticket auction (for the Lewis/Johnson heavyweight championship for AEG and Staples Center)

• Ask Jeeves is the first search engine to ban pop-up banner ads, meeting consumer demand for a more streamlined, less ad-heavy search experience
• Ticketmaster conducts the first-ever online ticket auction (for the Lewis/Johnson heavyweight championship for AEG and Staples Center)

• Ask Jeeves offers the first web preview tool on the search results page, allowing people to preview a page before going to it, using its proprietary Binoculars tool

• HSN introduces the first-ever "Shop by Remote" interactive television service in the U.S., which allows viewers to quickly and easily purchase items using their TV remote control
• Pronto.com introduces industry-first aggregated product reviews
• Match.com launches matchTalk, an innovative new service allowing members to connect by phone without sharing personal contact information

• ServiceMagic revolutionizes battle against home improvement fraud with ScreenAPro, a next generation online tool to combat the most frequent consumer complaints: home improvement and contractor fraud
• IAC launches RushmoreDrive, the first product of the newest Programming business, Black Web Enterprises. RushmoreDrive is a new web search site geared to black audiences; however, as a first of its kind, the heart of the site is a vertical search algorithm which is based on increased penetration of sites heavily trafficked by the Black community blending general search, news and job results, plus a dynamic layer of Black-targeted results and user-generated content
• IAC and Zwinky launches Zwinky Cuties, a fanciful online virtual world where pre-teens can safely create customized avatars, play games, design their own room, adopt pets and share imaginative interactive relationships with their peers