180solutions cuts 50 employees!

It's never fun when people get fired.... but WOOHOO!!



Online pop-up ad firm cuts staff
180solutions Inc. of Bellevue lays off about 50

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

180solutions Inc., a private Bellevue company that delivers online pop-up advertisements, has cut about 50 employees, the company said Thursday.

The 20 percent staff reduction includes those in sales, marketing and development and leaves 190 to 200 employees, said spokesman Sean Sundwall. The cuts come as its user base remains flat and high revenue growth slows.

A reorganization plan that largely focuses on audio, video and gaming syndication, Sundwall said, spurred the trimming of the staff. Those who were let go include junior employees and midlevel managers.

"We're a very profitable company," he said. "These cuts were not induced because of poor financials, as much as looking down the road."

The cuts follow company efforts to clean up its distribution network and improve its public image. Since January, it has ended relationships with about 500 of its 8,000 to 10,000 distributors and has sued some of them.

Some third-party distributors have not followed 180solutions' code of conduct and have installed company software on a person's computer, often without a user's knowledge.

The software delivers advertisements to computer users based on which Web sites they visit.

Consumers, privacy groups and anti-spyware researchers have criticized the company and others in the industry for the way in which pop-up advertisements appear on computer screens.

The reduction of employees also coincides as revenue growth for the year is expected to be 20 percent, lower than in previous years.





"Every 180 Employee plays a role in the continuation of our unique and exciting culture," says another section about its corporate culture.




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