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What is The Lead Index?

We specialize in reporting on public companies in the performance marketing space. We read the earnings reports and analyze them so you don’t have to! We’ll cover other topics at times as interest or opportunity presents itself.

We focus on companies that primarily profit from media, think lead sellers and not lead buyers. As an example, in the Insurance sector, we do not cover eHealth and SelectQuote, as those companies make money on insurance policies. We do cover EverQuote, which is primarily paid for leads/traffic. This may change over time as we collect feedback on what information is most useful to our audience, but that’s how it works today.

Zillow is a bit of an outlier. They don’t specifically charge per lead, but they do get paid as a result of sending form data to their clients, so I think they merit inclusion.

Companies we track (in order of market cap at close on 7/31/26):

Zillow

EverCommerce

MediaAlpha

NerdWallet

QuinStreet

EverQuote

LendingTree

Angi

Fluent

Why I’m Doing This

There’s no good/centralized scorecard or repository for lead generation and very little useful media coverage. My good friend Mike Ferree tried for awhile with LeadCritic but ultimately moved on to other projects.

There are currently only 9 companies we’re tracking on the Lead Index (previously there were more, but a few have gone private/de-listed). Tracking changes and growth/slowdowns within public markets companies is a meaningful indicator of what’s happening in the industry as a whole. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best way I can think of to track and report on what’s happening in a way that’s data-driven.

I think of the Lead Index as like a stock index for lead generation/performance marketing companies. Much like the S&P, the companies on the index can change over time.

On the Bubble

Here are some companies I consider to be adjacent but not quite a fit for the index.

Alphabet - Due to the amount of SEM traffic in our industry, but gets paid for impressions

Meta - High volume source for traffic/leads but doesn’t make money specifically for lead gen

Yelp - Similar to Alphabet, lots of lead volume but they charge a CPM model. Could be worth monitoring though

Gen Digital - Owns MoneyLion but also Norton antivirus

Intuit - Owns Mint and CreditKarma but majority of revenue from tax software

Future Ltd. - Some performance marketing but not truly lead generation

Ziff Davis - While there is some ABM/lead gen, primarily just a publisher

AppLovin - Adjacent but focused on app downloads

TheTradeDesk - Programmatic display

Taboola - Native network

NerdWallet - Gets paid more per sale, though does some lead generation

OutBrain - Native network

Lamar Advertising - Out of home/billboards

ClearChannel - Radio

Criteo - Display Ads

Magnite (formerly Rubicon Project) - Ad platform

Omnicom - Agency

Publicis - Agency

IPG - Agency

FAQ

Comparison periods - Most stock reporting covers change relative to the quarter a year prior - ie Q3 2025 & Q3 2026. While this is interesting, I prefer to look at quarter over quarter (QOQ) changes. For some companies, this will bring in seasonality, which can skew the numbers. However, I maintain that changes each quarter can highlight more recent changes in the business.

Corrections

Please email us at info@theleadindex.com with any corrections or questions.

Disclosures

I previously worked at QuinStreet from 2020-2025. As a result, I owned QNST stock granted as RSU’s/PSU’s, but have liquidated those positions.

I may have consulting or referral agreements with companies reported on. I’ll never use confidential information here; this reporting is purely based on analyzing the SEC filings and our interpretation of them