Jim Lanzone
Encyclopedia
Jim Lanzone is the current President
of CBS Interactive, which operates key websites including CNET
, CBS.com, Gamespot
, CBS News
, Metacritic
, CBS Sports
, Chow
, MaxPreps.com and TV.com
. He took over as President from Neil Ashe in March 2011.. Prior to joining CBS Interactive, Lanzone was the CEO of Clicker.com
, the complete guide to Internet Television. Clicker launched in beta at TechCrunch50 on September 14, 2009 and was acquired by CBS in March 2011.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles
.. Jim also holds a JD/MBA from Emory University School of Law
.
In 1997, Lanzone co-founded eTour, an early provider of information retrieval and cost-per-lead services on the Web. By 1998, eTour had become a top 50 website and the Web’s #1 ranked site in user frequency (1998 & 1999). Lanzone continued to serve as president of eTour until it was acquired by Ask.com
in May 2001.
In addition to Ask.com's purchase of eTour, Lanzone was hired to lead product management, marketing and engineering, as senior vice president and general manager of Ask.com. Ask.com was purchased by Barry Diller’s IAC in 2005, and shortly afterward, Jim Lanzone was named CEO of Ask.com. He held this position until leaving IAC/Ask.com in 2008 to join Redpoint Ventures as Entrepreneur in Residence. Upon his departure, Barry Diller credited Lanzone as "the principal executive responsible for Ask.com's turnaround".. One of Lanzone's primary achievements as CEO was the overhaul and rebranding of AskJeeves (renamed Ask.com). Walt Mossberg praised the new site as being "richer and better organized than typical Google results", and Chris Sherman of Search Engine Land called it the "Apple of Search"
In addition to his role at CBS Interactive, Lanzone also serves as an advisor at Gigya
and Ustream
. He is also an investor in such companies as Tasty Labs and Aardvark (Search Engine)
.
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of CBS Interactive, which operates key websites including CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
, CBS.com, Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
, Chow
Chow
Chow may refer to:* Chowgums, an interjection* Chow Chow, a dog breed* Chow-chow, djana* Chow , an obsolete unit of mass in the pearl trade in Mumbai* Chow, an alternate name for the star Beta Serpentis* An English-phonetic spelling of ciao...
, MaxPreps.com and TV.com
TV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
. He took over as President from Neil Ashe in March 2011.. Prior to joining CBS Interactive, Lanzone was the CEO of Clicker.com
Clicker.com
Clicker is an Internet video directory and search company based in Los Angeles, California. Their website aims to be the TV Guide for all full episodes of programs available to watch on the Web. It is owned by CBS Interactive....
, the complete guide to Internet Television. Clicker launched in beta at TechCrunch50 on September 14, 2009 and was acquired by CBS in March 2011.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.. Jim also holds a JD/MBA from Emory University School of Law
Emory University School of Law
Emory University School of Law is a first-tier US law school that is part of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. It is ranked #30 among ABA-approved law schools by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report...
.
In 1997, Lanzone co-founded eTour, an early provider of information retrieval and cost-per-lead services on the Web. By 1998, eTour had become a top 50 website and the Web’s #1 ranked site in user frequency (1998 & 1999). Lanzone continued to serve as president of eTour until it was acquired by Ask.com
Ask.com
Ask is a Q&A focused search engine founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California. The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky from his own design. Warthen, Chevsky, Justin Grant, and others built the early AskJeeves.com website around that core engine...
in May 2001.
In addition to Ask.com's purchase of eTour, Lanzone was hired to lead product management, marketing and engineering, as senior vice president and general manager of Ask.com. Ask.com was purchased by Barry Diller’s IAC in 2005, and shortly afterward, Jim Lanzone was named CEO of Ask.com. He held this position until leaving IAC/Ask.com in 2008 to join Redpoint Ventures as Entrepreneur in Residence. Upon his departure, Barry Diller credited Lanzone as "the principal executive responsible for Ask.com's turnaround".. One of Lanzone's primary achievements as CEO was the overhaul and rebranding of AskJeeves (renamed Ask.com). Walt Mossberg praised the new site as being "richer and better organized than typical Google results", and Chris Sherman of Search Engine Land called it the "Apple of Search"
In addition to his role at CBS Interactive, Lanzone also serves as an advisor at Gigya
Gigya
Gigya Inc. is a privately held technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California with additional offices in Tel Aviv, Israel. Gigya offers a Saas-based technology for making websites social...
and Ustream
Ustream
Ustream is a website which consists of a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting and live video streaming of events online. Established in March 2007, the site has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten...
. He is also an investor in such companies as Tasty Labs and Aardvark (Search Engine)
Aardvark (search engine)
Aardvark was a social search service that connected users live with friends or friends-of-friends who were able to answer their questions, also known as a knowledge market...
.
External links
- Jim Lanzone | LinkedIn Profile
- Jim Lanzone | CrunchBase Profile
- Walt Mossberg article on Jim Lanzone's leadership at Clicker
- Michael Arrington's interview of Jim Lanzone at Tech Crunch Disrupt (video)