Content was king until the dot-com bubble called "Checkmate!" Looking at the rosy quarterly report that iVillage (NASDAQ:IVIL) issued last night, maybe it's more appropriate to say that content is queen.
The popular portal that bills itself as "the Internet for women" posted record earnings of $0.02 a share across all of its properties on a 23% uptick in revenues. While that may not seem like much, it marks the third quarter out of the past four in which the company has achieved positive bottom-line results.
With Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) coming off stellar reports last month, it should be obvious that advertising money continues to trickle toward the online medium. That's why content is so important.
Want proof? Consider the fact that even though MarketWatch (NASDAQ:MKTW) has seen its shares rise sevenfold over the past three years, it is still a rumored takeover target. While you have some content sites like Salon and drkoop.com wading around the penny stock muck, you would be missing the point if you ignored companies like iVillage that are now growing and profitable.
While iVillage is losing a custom publications project with Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) that accounted for 10% of this year's revenues, the company continues to sign up new sponsors, so growth and profitability are likely to continue. With 12.3 million registered users generating 366 million monthly page views, the cash-rich company is attracting the eyeballs that advertisers covet.
So it's not just on the chessboard that a queen can fly circles around the plodding king. In the online world, there's no need to break through any glass ceilings when you are hanging out in the profitable penthouse.
Do we need different portals for male and female users? Are there some Wall Street issues that matter more to women than to men? Does gender matter in deciding who will manage your money? All this and more -- in the Women & Investing discussion board. Only on Fool.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz loves women so much that he married one. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story.
