Covario: Searching for the next big thing

For Fortune 500 companies, it's often the case that there are many websites to manage (perhaps more than 100, which may not even include the foreign language translations). So, it can be time-consuming to leverage search engine marketing across Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO).

Well, this has been a big market opportunity for Covario, which automates paid and organic search. In fact, the company recently snagged $16 million in venture capital from FTVentures, Dubilier & Company and Voyager Capital. Some of its customers include P&G (NYSE: PG), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC).

"Our solution not only reduces costs but also drives more traffic," said Russ Mann, the CEO at Covario, in an interview with me.

"We plan to move into mobile, video and IPTV," said Mann. "But for now, our customers are most interested in search marketing. As for other areas, such as social networking, I think there's huge hype. Big customers are experimenting with this but it looks like there is mostly remnant traffic and the click-through rates are very low. That is, the users are not there to buy."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.