When tiny online headhunterHotjobs.com blew half its annual revenue on a Super Bowl commercial, its rivals snickered – but Hotjobs might get the last laugh.
It bigger rival – Monster.com – quietly bought a month of ads on Hotjobs yesterday seeking a director of business development for Monster.com. The job wasn’t posted nationally on Monster.com.
Hotjobs said it was flattered.
“They’ve clearly recognized that we’re the place to find senior people, and we’re glad to help them,” said Simon Goddard, vice president of sales for Hotjobs.
Hotjobs collected $150 from its rival for the month of ads seeking a new director, whose duties include “developing Monster.com’s business model and strategic direction with partners.”
The $150 won’t come close to covering the nearly $2 million Hotjobs spent on its single Super Bowl ad. But the company did raise $24 million on Tuesday when it went public at $9 a share. Hotjobs rose 13/8 yesterday to 93/8.
Monster.com said one reason it turned to its upstart rival to find a business development director was to test the small company, which lost $1.6 million on sales of $4.1 million last year.
“It’s basically a test to see what kind of response we get from that particular site,” said a Monster.com spokesperson. Monster.com ran a regional version of the ad for San Francisco only.
The two companies have been slugging it out in recent months for market share. Monster.com is the largest online job site, with about 225,000 job listings.
Monster.com is owned by advertising services company TMP Worldwide, which went public nearly three years ago at $14. Its stock was unchanged yesterday at 445/8.
Hotjobs.com, the third-largest online job site, provides Internet recruiting services for more than 2,000 companies and says it is adding about 300 new companies per month. Each subscriber company pays monthly fees starting at $600, allowing up to 20 job postings per month.
Hotjob’s Goddard said of his rival’s ad: ” I hope they stay for more than a month and become a subscriber.”
Hotjobs curtailed its big TV blowout and is running a giant billboard in Times Square saying : “Hillary, if New York doesn’t work out, we’ve got options.”