# Become.com

> Become.com was a Sunnyvale shopping-search company founded in 2004 by mySimon veterans Michael Yang and Yeogirl Yun. It joined product research, price comparison, reviews and merchant offers in one service, then expanded into product-ad syndication, feed optimization and performance marketing for retailers and publishers. After raising $37.2 million and building a global operation, growth stalled; Connexity acquired the company in 2014 for an undisclosed price, and Taboola acquired Connexity in 2021.

- **Founded:** 2004
- **Headquarters:** Sunnyvale, United States
- **Founders:** Michael Yang (Co-founder, President and CEO), Yeogirl Yun (Co-founder, Chairman and CTO)
- **Products:** Shopping Research Search, Comparison Shopping, Product Ads Syndication Network, Channel Management and Feed Optimization, Become.com iPad App
- **Notable:** Built a 3.2-billion-page shopping index covering content from more than 40 million sites within roughly a year of technology development., Traffic grew 260% year over year by 2008, according to comScore figures cited at the time., Expanded operations across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Japan and the Philippines; more than 70% of revenue was reported outside the US.

## Products & services

- **Shopping Research Search** — A vertical index of shopping-related pages, ranked with the proprietary AIR system and designed to surface buying guides, professional reviews, manufacturer information and product commentary.
- **Comparison Shopping** — Product and price comparison across online retailers, with filters, reviews, local-store discovery and direct referral links to merchants.
- **Product Ads Syndication Network** — A network connecting retailer product feeds with web and mobile publishers; company profiles reported more than 500 publishers.
- **Channel Management and Feed Optimization** — SaaS tools and services to normalize, improve and distribute merchant catalog feeds and measure performance.
- **Become.com iPad App** — A shopping app with more than 25 million products across 800-plus categories and 3,000-plus retailers, including side-by-side and room-visualization features.

## Achievements

- Built a 3.2-billion-page shopping index covering content from more than 40 million sites within roughly a year of technology development.
- Traffic grew 260% year over year by 2008, according to comScore figures cited at the time.
- Expanded operations across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Japan and the Philippines; more than 70% of revenue was reported outside the US.
- Built a product-ad syndication network reported to include more than 500 publishers.
- Raised $37.2 million across four disclosed venture rounds before acquisition.
- Recognized by Forbes among its Best of the Web selections in 2005 and 2006.

## Latest updates

- **2014-12** — Connexity agreed to acquire Become, Inc.; the price was not disclosed.
- **2021-09** — Taboola completed its acquisition of Connexity, making Become’s parent part of Taboola’s e-commerce portfolio.
- **2026** — Founder Michael Yang publicly described Become.com as reaching roughly $50 million in revenue and about 150 employees before growth stalled and the company was sold at a low valuation.

## Links

- Website: https://www.become.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/become.com
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/bizrate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bizrate/19245196829

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/become-com
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26