InfoSpace slashes 40% of workforce

Following the loss of a major carrier customer assumed to be Cingular, InfoSpace has cut 250 jobs from its workforce, representing a 40 percent reduction. Included in the bloodletting is chief administrative officer Ed Belsheim, who will step down Jan. 1. The company said it expects the restructuring to cost $13 million. The Cingular loss is expected to result in a $125 million to $300 million hit to InfoSpace's 2007 revenues, and reduce to a loss of 45 cents a share, according to analyst reports.

InfoSpace says it now plans to establish more direct deals with record labels themselves, presumably to create ringtones on behalf of record companies who subsequently license them directly to wireless operators. Universal Music Group, for instance, currently uses InfoSpace to make many of its ringtones.

Read the whole story:
- in the MediaPost article

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