InfoSpace Reviews

Pros

A lot of autonomy
Great hours - I work nights or weekends only when mission critical projects require it
If you have a good business case for something you think should be done and present it well you have a good chance of getting it done
Things change often so if you don't like it, just hold out for the next roll of the dice
People are generally very helpful and friendly.

Cons

Last CEO (Jim Voelker) was better than this one (Will Lansing); many are holding out for Lansing's replacement
Some well paid execs at top that don't pull their weight in contribution to company
Some sr managers fund projects that don't have strong enough business plan
Some engineers are lazy and some are incredibly hard working

Advice to Senior Management

Stop paying for people you don't need (at all levels)
Stop losing money on projects that contribute less to company than they cost to build.
Get a cohesive strategy that makes sense, then use that to drive the culture you want

Pros

Good location, good revenues (business makes money)

Cons

People still think and apply pre-internet technology and management methodologies to todays. problems. Extremely slow in decision making.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop looking to make short term profits.

Pros

Good place to work if you are looking for a good work\life balance.

Cons

Engineering excellence is not a priority. An ambitous developer will not be challenged.

Advice to Senior Management

There isn't a lot of innovation going on. Decisions are based solely on short-term revenue gains\losses rather than to create a product which sells to end users.

Pros

lots of cash in bank. not going bankrupt

Cons

management is very self serving, pay themselves huge salaries, huge bonus while being penney pinchers with mid level and rank and file

Advice to Senior Management

be fair to employees and shareholders

Pros

Excellent team of people, intelligent, driven, supportive. Fast paced, challenging environment. Great location. Best benefits package I have seen yet.

Cons

Working for Infospace has been a very positive experience. The only con's I can think of the business changed faster than I ever expected.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't disregard team building. It is more important than $$ show. Having people you can lean on during tough times are the real savings.

Pros

The compensation and benefits were satisfactory, but what I enjoyed most was the people I worked with. I found a lot of collaboration and knowledge sharing on in the IT department, and I think on the Service Desk, I was in the best position to take advantage of that.

Cons

The company seems to be wandering with no real purpose. I've been laid off and rehired by Infospace or one of the subsidiary companies several times over the years, and every time I would come back the vision had completely changed from what they had planned at the last meeting I had been to. With no real sense of direction, they seem to be dying off... and as they lose the great people that used to work there, they must also be losing the culture that made them a fun place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

N/a

Pros

InfoSpace is in a unique position because of its grandfathered relationship with Google, Yahoo, Ask & Bing. As a result - working here gives great insight on how the search industry works.

Cons

Management struggles with A.D.D. Decisions are not followed through and company continues to chase its tail. Lacks vision for long term strategy.

Advice to Senior Management

Need constant leadership

Pros

work life balance; respect for engineers

Cons

marketing not well understood; run by people who were not experts in their field...caretakers

Advice to Senior Management

hiring technology marketing leadership was a good step forward

Pros

There are some pretty cool, smart people there. The idea of metasearch is a very good one, and InfoSpace might have a shot at something big with it if they can focus on one thing. I think it is good for the company that they've gotten out of mobile and streamlined their business. If they can retain the people that still give a darn, I think that the Dogpile product can keep making money. I think it is a good place for people to learn and build skills.

Cons

You don't always get an accurate picture of what's REALLY happening when you are on the inside. To find out that the InfoSpace CEO was the highest paid in the Northwest last year, partly because of all the stock dividends he got authorized, was frustrating. I don't think he was completely honest with all that was going on - he painted a rosy picture for employees while reaping in the rewards when things weren't really all he chalked them up to be. I think that the company has struggled to define itself, and in all of it's "re-organizations" has lost some really good people that could have made the company even better.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more transparent - but be REAL. It appears that there is a lot of true, forthcoming communication from the top, but after leaving the company, I can see now that there was actually more BS being dished out than anything. People can deal with the bad news if you give it to them.

Pros

Team oriented environment; realistic project schedules

Cons

Your hard work results in being sold off!

Advice to Senior Management

Improve profitability