| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: SST | |
| Industry | News mediasecurityInternet advertising |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | United States  |
Key people | Michael Blend (Co-founder/CEO) Chuck Ursini (Co-founder/COO) Brian Coppola (CPO) |
| Products | Answers.com,HowStuffWorks,Info.com,Infospace,MapQuest,Startpage.com, Formerly:Waterfox |
| Website | system1 |
System1 is anAmericanInternet advertising company.[1] Formerly known as OpenMail, it was founded in 2013.[2][3][4] It describes itself as operating a "Responsive Acquisition Marketing Platform", and citesprivacy as one of its principal foci, although it has been criticized for its influence on privacy-focused properties, including search engineStartpage.com.[5][6] It is headquartered in Marina del Rey, California.[7]
Michael Blend and Chuck Ursini founded the company in Venice Beach, California, in 2013.[2][4]
In July 2016,Infospace and its subsidiariesHowStuffWorks,Dogpile,Zoo.com,MetaCrawler, andWebCrawler were bought by System1.[8][9]
OpenMail rebranded as System1 shortly after April 2017.[2][3] System1’s subsidiary, digital media publisher HowStuffWorks, also spun out as an independent podcast network in 2017.[10][11]
In October 2019, System1 boughtMapQuest fromVerizon.[12]Cory Doctorow opined, as soon as MapQuest was bought byAOL (which was later bought byVerizon), that it was doomed to die. Verizon had dumped MapQuest to System1 for such a small sum, it was "not material enough for Verizon to file paperwork".[12]
In February 2020, System1 acquiredWaterfox; concern about the acquisition, as well as secrecy surrounding it, was expressed by the public.[13] System1 also acquired a controlling share in privacy-focused search engine Startpage in 2020.[14] The Waterfox and Startpage acquisition was done through System1's subsidiaryPrivacy One Group Ltd.[6] Further clarification and communication happened after public concern about the acquisition grew.[15]
In 2021, System1 announced that it would be going public on the New York Stock Exchange.[16][17] The company also announced it would be combining with the SPAC Trebia Acquisition Corp. in a reverse merger.[16][17] Through this deal, System1 also merged with the privacy subscription platform Protected.net.[18] It officially went public on January 31, 2022.[19] Protected.net would eventually rebrand as Total Security.[18]
In February 2022, System1 acquired consumer mapping service RoadWarrior.[20][21] In March 2022, System1 purchased online coupon provider CouponFollow in a deal worth up to $110 million.[22][23]
In April 2022, Waterfox set Startpage as its default search engine, reflecting the ownership of System1.[24]
In May 2022, in a quarterly earnings report, System1's acquisition ofAnswers.com was announced.[25]
From 2022-2023, System1 was named a Microsoft Supply Partner of the Year in the Americas. Microsoft also gave System1 an Advertising Global Partner Award in 2023.[14][26]
In July 2023, Waterfox became independent of System1.[27] In October 2023, System1 announced a search partnership with European search engine Ecosia after Ecosia moved away from exclusively using Microsoft’s Bing.[28] In November 2023, System1 also announced the sale of Total Security.[29]