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Rakuten Rewards
IndustryCashback website
Founded3 May 1998 (1998-05-03) in Menlo Park, California, United States
FoundersAlessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman
HeadquartersSan Mateo, California
Area served
United States, Canada, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan
Key people
Amit Patel (CEO)
Number of employees
760 (worldwide, 2019)
ParentRakuten
Websitewww.rakuten.com

Rakuten Rewards (/ˈrækətɪn/),[1] formerly known as Ebates,[2] is a cash-back and shopping rewards company.[citation needed] Its revenue comes from affiliate network links.[3] Members of the site click through affiliate links before shopping at a retailer's site. Once the member makes a purchase, Rakuten Rewards receives an affiliate commission from the retailer which is then shared with the member. The company publishes links both on its website and through a browser extension as well as a mobile app.[4]

History

Rakuten Rewards was founded as Ebates in 1998 in Menlo Park, California, by two former deputy district attorneys, Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman. Funded by the venture capital firm Foundation Capital,[5] Ebates.com was launched on 3 May 1999, offering up to 25% cash back from about 40 online retailers.[6]

In September 2014, Ebates was acquired by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten for US$1 billion.[7] In 2019, the Ebates brand was phased out and replaced with Rakuten Rewards.[8]

Acquisitions

Date Company Business Country References
8 September 2011 FatWallet Comparison shopping site United States [9]
9 August 2012 BFAds Coupons site United States [10]
8 September 2012 AnyCoupons Coupons site United States [citation needed]
22 June 2012 OneReceipt Receipt digitization service United States [11]
10/12/2012 PushPins Coupons mobile site United States [12]
25 June 2013
sold 6 December 2017 		Extrabux Comparison shopping site United States [13]
7 March 2016 Shopular Product discovery mobile app United States [14]
23 January 2017 Cartera Commerce Rewards program provider United States [15]
3 April 2017 ShopStyle (and Cosmic Cart) Fashion discovery site United States [16]

Services/tools

Name Description References
Mobile app Free application for Android and iOS allows users to shop and earn cash back on mobile devices [17]
Hotels Users can book hotels to earn cash back. All hotels on this section of the site are eligible for 10% cash back [18]
Cash Back Button Browser extension for Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Alerts users to cash-back possibilities on store sites and highlights offers in Google and Bing search results. [19]
Marketplace Formerly located at Rakuten.com, the marketplace is an e-commerce site where users can buy goods from third-party sellers
In-Store Cash Back Users can earn cash back in stores by adding a credit or debit card to their accounts and using that card to pay in stores

Logos

References

  1. ^ "Ebates is now Rakuten". Rakuten Rewards.
  2. ^ "Ebates is Becoming Rakuten & Super Bowl Ad (How to Pronounce Rakuten)". Travel with Grant. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Rakuten to Acquire Ebates for $1 Billion". Business Wire (Press release). 9 September 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Rebates, Cash Back, Discount Coupons, Online Coupons". Rakuten. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. ^ Kemp, Ted (17 May 1999). "ebates.com Pays Cash to Net Shoppers, Hopes to Lure Advertisers". Direct Marketing News. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Ebates.com launches discount rebate site". Advertising Age. Crain Communications Inc. 3 May 1999. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  7. ^ Perez, Sarah (9 September 2014). "Rakuten Buys Ebates For $1 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Backed By VCs, Ebates Buys FatWallet.com And AnyCoupons.com, Starts New Company". TechCrunch. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Ebates acquires BFAds". StartupRanking. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Performance Marketing Brands Announces Acquisition of OneReceipt". Businesswire. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Performance Marketing Brands Expands Into Grocery Retail Market with Acquisition of Pushpins". Businesswire. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Ebates Inc. Acquires Extrabux®". Businesswire. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Ebates Acquires Shopular". Businesswire. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Ebates Acquires Cartera Commerce". Businesswire. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Ebates Acquires ShopStyle From PopSugar Inc". Businesswire. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Ebates Hotels Review: Earn 10% Cash Back". Hustler Money Blog. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
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