Editing D&B Hoovers

{{Short description|American business research company}}
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{{Infobox company
| name = D&B Hoovers
| logo = D&B Hoovers logo.svg
| type = Information and technology services
| industry = D&B Hoovers LTD
| foundation = 1990
| location = [[Austin, Texas]], US<ref>{{cite web |title=Hoover's, Inc. Company Profile {{!}} D&B Hoovers |url=http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.hoovers_inc.4dfb6c0caadd9366.html |website=hoovers.com}}</ref>
| key_people = [[Gary Hoover]], Co-Founder<br>[[Patrick Spain]], Co-Founder<br>Thomas Manning, Interim CEO
| products =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent = [[Dun & Bradstreet]]
| subsid =
| footnotes =
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.hoovers.com/}}
}}
'''D&B Hoovers''' was founded by [[Gary Hoover]] and [[Patrick Spain]] in 1990<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Steve |date=1997-10-15 |title=The Dynamic Duo |url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1468.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121110121/http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1468.html |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=2014-04-07 |website=[[Inc.com]]}}</ref> as an American business research company that provided information on [[Company|companies]] and [[Industry (economics)|industries]] through their primary product platform named "Hoover's". In 2003, it was acquired by [[Dun & Bradstreet]]<ref>{{Cite news |author=Das |first=Anupreeta |author-link=Anupreeta Das |date=2021-07-31 |title=Dun & Bradstreet Explores Sale |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444860104577561291194891660 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124123814/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444860104577561291194891660 |archive-date=2025-01-24 |access-date=2025-04-24 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |publisher=}}</ref> and operated for a time as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2017, the Hoover's product was re-branded D&B Hoovers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |author=A. O. L. Staff |date=2016-07-15 |title=New D&B Hoovers Analytics™ Product Gives Small Businesses the Power to Uncover Prospects and Drive G |url=https://www.aol.com/2013/05/16/new-db-hoovers-analytics-product-gives-small-busin/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124125135/https://www.aol.com/2013/05/16/new-db-hoovers-analytics-product-gives-small-busin/ |archive-date=2025-01-24 |access-date=2017-08-16 |website=[[AOL.com]]}}</ref> [[Dun & Bradstreet]] is headquartered in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], US.

== History ==
Hoovers was started in 1990 by [[Gary Hoover]], [[Patrick Spain|Patrick J. Spain]], Alan Chai, and Alta Campbell. Leading up to this, Hoover had founded the [[Bookstop (company)|Bookstop]] book store chain, ultimately purchased by [[Barnes & Noble]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} Hoover's initially was called The Reference Press, as it published reference books about companies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ReferenceA" />

The company grew rapidly under a business team led by Spain. This team included Carl Shepherd, Lynn Atchison, [[Elisabeth DeMarse]], Jani Spede, Kris Rao, and Gordon Anderson, among others. Spain was CEO from 1993 to 2001, and chairman from 1994 to 2002.

Hoovers made an [[initial public offering]] on the [[NASDAQ]] exchange in 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Francisco |first=Bambi |date=2002-12-05 |title=D&B to buy Hoover's for $117 million |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/db-to-buy-hoovers-for-117-million |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240921033126/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/db-to-buy-hoovers-for-117-million |archive-date=2024-09-21 |access-date=2017-08-16 |work=[[MarketWatch]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Hoover's SEC filing 424B4, 21 July 1999</ref> The company then became a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hatchitt |first=Ann |date=2003-02-07 |title=AV, Marathon propose sweeter bid for Hoover's |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2003/02/03/daily62.html |access-date=2017-08-16 |website=www.bizjournals.com}}</ref> which bought Hoover's for $119 million in 2003. After the acquisition of Avention by Dun & Bradstreet in 2017, the D&B Hoovers solution{{buzzword inline|date=November 2021}} was launched, and replaced the existing Hoovers' product.<ref name=":0" />

== Operations ==
Dun & Bradstreet maintains a [[database]] of more than 330 million companies with 30,000 global data sources updated 5 million times per day.<ref name=":1" />{{Primary source inline|date=April 2025}} It combines Dun & Bradstreet's data with Avention's sales acceleration platform.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation - Annual Report |url=http://investor.dnb.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1115222-17-7&CIK=1115222 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720194341/http://investor.dnb.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1115222-17-7&CIK=1115222 |archive-date=2017-07-20 |access-date=2017-08-16 |website=investor.dnb.com |language=en}}</ref> Subscriptions are sold primarily to sales, marketing, and business development professionals seeking contact information for prospective customers.<ref name="ReferenceA">See, e.g., Hoover's SEC filing 10-K, 31 March 2002</ref> The database is used for lead generation, outreach, prepping for sales calls, researching companies, being alerted to changes in leadership, and acquiring new customers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hoovers.com/|title=Sales leads, Company Profiles, Business Database & Sales Acceleration Solutions|access-date=2017-08-16}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2025}}

Besides publishing information through the D&B Hoovers product, information is also distributed via data feeds and third-party licensing agreements.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

D&B Hoovers claims to offer proprietary business information through an online platform and integrated workflow solutions, {{buzzword inline|date=November 2021}} houses data on more than 120 million business records across 1,000 industries.<ref name=":1" />{{Primary source inline|date=April 2025}}

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:DandB Hoovers}}
[[Category:1999 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:2003 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1990]]
[[Category:Business services companies established in 1990]]
[[Category:Companies based in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Dun & Bradstreet]]
[[Category:Online databases]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 1990]]