QuinStreet Losing Share in EDU?

Some industry conversations since the QuinStreet S-1 was filed (get it here) got us thinking about market share in the EDU lead generation space. Real revenue numbers on the Top 5 lead providers (CollegeBound, QuinStreet, Vantage, Education Dynamics, All-Star Directories) in the education space are hard to come by but everyone talks about rapid growth in CY 2009. The standard growth number that I hear lead gen folks talk about is 20% YOY revenue growth. But let’s look at QuinStreet in education for a second.

*QuinStreet’s fiscal year ends on June 30th

Two key takeaways

1. DeVry is a huge chunk of QuinStreet’s EDU business and it is likely to decline given Starcom’s AOR relationship

2. Actual growth with clients other than DeVry in the EDU vertical has been anemic compared to the market over the past 24 months. They have grown 4% YOY for the past two years vs. 20% for the market.

This data speaks to the importance of the M&A machine to QuinStreet’s future growth.