Guide Note

Sales Genie is an online service that provides sales leads for businesses based on specific demographics. It is a division of infoUSA, which has databases of information on about 15 million North American companies and businesses.

Fast Facts

1. Stock symbol: IUSA (NASDAQ)
2. IUSA annual revenue (2006): $700 million
3. Founder: Vinod Gupta
4. Year established: 1972
5. Industry: Sales/business
6. Phone: (866) 327-6391
7. HQ: Omaha, Nebraska
8. Chairman/CEO: Vinod Gupta
9. Staff: 5,000+
10. Offers 100 free leads for new users

Sales Genie ran ads during Super Bowls XLI and XLII that garnered negative publicity, particularly two animated commercials that received criticism for being racially insensitive. The ads, which involved an Indian salesman who had seven kids and two panda bears with Chinese accents, were written by infoUSA CEO Vinod Gupta.