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Not to be confused withAnnie's List.
This article is about the website. For the Davey Graham instrumental, seeAnji (instrumental).For the parent company, seeAngi Inc.

Angi
Founded1995
HeadquartersIndianapolis, Indiana
OwnerAngi Inc.
Founder(s)William S. Oesterle,Angie Hicks
Key peopleJoey Levin, CEO[1]
Angie Hicks, CCO
IndustryContractmarketplace
URLwww.angi

Angi(formerlyAngie's List) is an American home services website owned byAngi Inc.,a publicly-traded subsidiary ofIAC.Founded in 1995 byAngie HicksandWilliam S. Oesterle,it allows users to search for contractors to provide paid home improvement work.

The service was originally developed as a database of reviews for local services. Angie's List was a subscription-based service for most of its existence, but shifted to afreemiummodel in July 2016. In 2017, the company was acquired by IAC and merged withHomeAdvisor.HomeAdvisor became Angi Leads.[2]

History

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Angie Hicksand William S. Oesterle founded Angie's List in 1995. The idea resulted from Hicks's search for a reliableconstruction contractorin suburbanColumbus, Ohio,on behalf of Oesterle, aventure capitalistwho was Hicks's Boss. Hicks moved to Columbus to join Oesterle in creating Columbus Neighbors, a call-in service and publication with reviews of local home and lawn care services. The name and concept were based on Unified Neighbors inIndianapolis, Indiana.Hicks went door-to-door, signing up consumers as members and collecting ratings of local contractors.[3]

After Hicks recruited over 1,000 members in Columbus within one year, she turned to Oesterle to raise money from investors to develop the business.[4]In 1996, the company bought Unified Neighbors from its creator and moved the company's headquarters toIndianapolis.[5]

By 1999, the database of local services and reviews was moved to the Internet. In the following years, the customer base and business relationships grew throughout the United States, while expanding coverage to include additional services, such as health care and auto care.

In 2010, Angie's List raised a total of $25 million in capital from investors. In September 2010, Wasatch Funds andBattery Venturesinvested $22 million.[6]In November 2010, Saints Capital led an additional funding of $2.5 million.[7]

On November 17, 2011, Angie's Listwent publicon theNasdaq.[8]In 2013, investors worried that the company had been in business for more than 18 years, yet never had shown an annual profit and that valuations of the company were unrealistic based on the actual revenue the company produces.[9]But by 2015 growth estimates indicate a significant earnings-per-share growth, with a long-term growth rate at 19%. Combine this with stock estimates rising in 2015 by 13.3%, somesecurities researchfirms such as Zacks Investment Research indicated ANGI was well-positioned for future earnings growth.[10]

Before 2015, the company had been dependent on capital infusions from investors to stay afloat. Angie's List had its first profitable year since its founding in 1995 in 2015.[11]In 2017, the company announced in a press release that they had 2 million subscribers in the year 2013.[12]In August 2015, it reported 3.2 million paid members.[13]

With over two thousand employees by 2015 and record profits, Angie's List executives planned to renovate their headquarters in Indianapolis.[14]The $40 million expansion would add over a thousand jobs to the area over the next several years, but the company discarded their plans in protest of Indiana'sReligious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).[15]The law allowed individuals and companies to deny services in situations that "substantially burdened" the expression of their religious beliefs. Angie's List joined several other Indiana-based companies in condemning the law as discriminatory against LGBTQ+ people and refused to expand the company within the state until its repeal.[15]

In July 2016, Angie's List was made afreemiumservice; the basic membership tier, which includes access to more than 10 million reviews, was made free, alongside subscription tiers offering additional functionality.[16][17]On May 2, 2017,IAC,owner ofHomeAdvisor,announced that it had agreed to acquire Angie's List for $8.50 per-share, valuing the company at over $500 million. On October 1, 2017, the two companies were brought under the new parent companyANGI Homeservices Inc.,retaining its ticker symbol and stock history.[16][18][19][20]

In March 2021, ANGI Homeservices announced that the company and Angie's List would be rebranded as Angi. CEO Oisin Hanrahan explained that despite itsbrand recognition,the name "Angie's List" was confusing to users as it did not reflect the service's current business model (which is now focused on connecting users to and booking contractors), and that the change was also intended to help emphasize its current ownership of HomeAdvisor andHandy.[21]

In October 2022, Angi announced[22]the appointment of Joey Levin, CEO of IAC and Chairman of Angi, to CEO of Angi.

In May 2023, Oesterle died.[23]

Criticism and controversies

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A 2017 investigation by Chicago-based NBC StationWMAQ-TVfound that many local "Angie's List Certified" contractors are unlicensed to do work.[24]

David Segalfound that when subscribers post a negative review of a company to Angie's List, a staff member discusses it with the subscriber in an attempt to rectify the situation. After they "fix the problem" they will remove the complaint.[25]

Litigation

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In March 2007 SCS Contracting Group sued Angie's List and two members for libel because of negative reviews of the company. One of the sued members remarked, "if [contractors are] able to sue, then the value of Angie's List depreciates... People aren't going to be willing to submit reviews if they could be threatened with a lawsuit."[26]On October 7, 2008, the plaintiffs dismissed the complaint against the two members.Summary judgmentwas later granted in favor of all defendants.[27]

In 2014, Angie's List paid $2.8 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it automatically renewed members at a higher rate than they were led to believe.[28]

In August 2016, Angie's List agreed to settle three lawsuits for a payment of $1.4 million. The class-action lawsuits focused on Angie's List's acceptance of advertising payments from service providers, and whether those payments affect service providers’ letter-grade ratings, reviews, and place in search-result rankings. Angie's List denies plaintiffs’ claims, but disclosed that revenue from service providers can affect the order of search-result rankings of the service provider under certain settings.[29]

References

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  1. ^"Angi Announced CEO Transition".
  2. ^"Angi Leads".pro.homeadvisor.
  3. ^"Profile - Entrepreneurship - Harvard Business School".entrepreneurship.hbs.edu.RetrievedDecember 29,2020.
  4. ^Evans, Teri (October 6, 2010)."No Free Stuff Here: At Angie's List, Members Pay".Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 2,2011.
  5. ^"START UP TV SHOW".startup-usa.RetrievedDecember 29,2020.
  6. ^Merino, Faith (September 21, 2010)."Angie's List strikes big with $22M".VatorNews.
  7. ^Merino, Faith (November 11, 2010)."Angie's List raises $2.5M adding to $22.5M".VatorNews.
  8. ^"Angie's List gains 25% in IPO".CNN.November 17, 2011.
  9. ^"Angie's List: Worth $9 Based On Expected Lifetime Member Value In 2015".Seeking Alpha. October 26, 2013.RetrievedOctober 18,2014.
  10. ^"Why Angie's List (ANGI) Could Be an Impressive Growth Stock".zacks. October 28, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon December 22, 2015.RetrievedOctober 28,2015.
  11. ^"Angie's List reports first profitable year in company history".February 23, 2016.
  12. ^Tamborello, Joe (January 16, 2017)."Angie's List boasts 5 million members, growth".Indianapolis Star.
  13. ^Kopytoff, Verne."Angie's List names former Best Buy executive as CEO".Fortune.RetrievedSeptember 9,2015.
  14. ^Swiatek, Jeff."Angie's List to add 1,000 jobs, expand HQ".The Indianapolis Star.RetrievedMay 17,2024.
  15. ^ab"Angie's List".indyencyclopedia.org.June 21, 2021.RetrievedMay 17,2024.
  16. ^ab"Golden-based HomeAdvisor completes purchase of Angie's List".Denver Post.RetrievedOctober 2,2017.
  17. ^Mercado, Darla (July 13, 2016)."Need a plumber? Angie's List reviews are now free".CNBC.RetrievedJuly 27,2016.
  18. ^"This is why analysts are through the roof on ANGI Homeservices".MarketWatch.RetrievedAugust 28,2019.
  19. ^"Angie's List will merge with HomeAdvisor after finally accepting IAC's acquisition offer".TechCrunch.RetrievedAugust 28,2019.
  20. ^"Merger Proposal".ANGI Homeservices.RetrievedAugust 28,2019.
  21. ^"Angie's List changes its name in a complete rebranding".CNN Business.March 17, 2021.RetrievedJanuary 3,2022.
  22. ^"Angi Announces CEO Transition".
  23. ^Slotnik, Daniel E. (May 14, 2023)."Bill Oesterle, Co-Founder of Angie's List, Dies at 57".New York Times.RetrievedMay 14,2023.
  24. ^Rogers, Phil; Smyser, Katy; Copenhagen, Courtney (May 1, 2017)."Many Local 'Angie's List Certified' Contractors Unlicensed".Chicago: WMAQ-TV.
  25. ^David Segal (December 21, 2013)."A Complaint Registered, Then Expunged".The New York Times.p. BU3.RetrievedOctober 18,2014.
  26. ^Kelly, John (March 13, 2007)."Homeowner's Web Gripe Draws Contractor Lawsuit".Washington Post.
  27. ^"Stephen C. Sieber v. Brownstone Publishing Co"(PDF).Theiceloop. October 2010. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 26, 2010.RetrievedJuly 21,2011.
  28. ^"Angie's List to pay $2.8M in membership-fee settlement".Ibl.RetrievedOctober 18,2014.
  29. ^"Moore v. Angie's List, Inc.Case No. 2:15-cv-01243 (E.D. Pa.) - Home ".moorevalsettlement.RetrievedAugust 30,2016.
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