Things continue to look up for iVillage (NASDAQ:IVIL). The company that bills its popular portal as "The Internet for Women" saw earnings double to $2.2 million -- or $0.03 a share -- on a 35% gain in revenues. Things are going even better at the actual iVillage.com namesake site, where website revenues were up a healthy 80%.
Yes, that's how it's been for online content companies lately. Higher traffic and the lucrative power of contextual advertising have helped popular sites like iVillage and Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation CNET Networks (NASDAQ:CNET) score huge gains in interactive advertising revenue. Content is king, or in iVillage's case, queen.
Of course, like CNET, iVillage has been the recent topic of buyout talk. The final question asked to CEO Douglas McCormick during last night's conference call concerned an article in the Financial Times, claiming that the company was seeking a buyer. McCormick was asked if he was willing to deny the allegations. He refused to comment on the speculation. When the analyst pressed him further, practically taunting McCormick by asking if that meant that he is choosing not to deny the rumor, McCormick reiterated his lack of iteration.
"I choose to not comment on it, unfortunately," was McCormick's snappy response.
That certainly isn't going to silence the rumor mill anytime soon. Making matters even more interesting here is that back in August, iVillage had announced that it was switching from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) as its provider for its paid search and targeted advertising needs. That makes cash-rich Google and Yahoo! no-brainer suitors to court iVillage if it truly is for sale. Google would have every incentive in the world to win back iVillage's virtual ad space, while Yahoo! wouldn't want to give up its summer conquest without a fight.
However, with media giant News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) announcing the purchases of MySpace and IGN earlier this year, it's easy to fathom traditional media companies knocking on iVillage's door, wanting to sell their ads to the company's perfectly targeted online audience -- and promote their televised offerings as well. Will iVillage's content relationship with Viacom (NYSE:VIA) blossom into something greater? We'll see.
Oh, sure, iVillage had another great quarter. Since breaking into the black with its first profitable quarter ever in 2003, the company has posted positive results during five of the seven quarters that followed. That's nice, but now everyone will be talking about what iVillage is wearing these days. No, not its outfit, but the price tag on it.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz loves women so much, he married one. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
