Arkansas Business

Inuvo Inc. has been in a pinch with the New York Stock Exchange for almost a year. Now, it’s making progress in getting back in the exchange’s good graces.

A release in September announced that the Conway Internet marketing company has been given until April 24 to prove itself worthy of staying on the NYSE charts.

The small yet publicly traded company has been in the doghouse for at least 10 months. “We were notified in November of last year that we were out of compliance with listing standards,” said CFO Wallace Ruiz.

In particular, stockholder equity was less than $6 million and the company had posted net losses in its five most recent fiscal years.

“So they said, ‘If you give us a plan on how you can regain compliance, and it looks reasonable, we can give you additional time,’” Ruiz said.

He said Inuvo developed a plan and submitted it to the NYSE in December.

“In February of this year, they approved it,” Ruiz said. “The plan was essentially how we would grow revenue and margins.”

He said the plan involved shifting Inuvo’s primary product from browser toolbars to owned and operated websites, which Ruiz said made profits faster and easier.

“They had a lower cost and a faster turnaround,” he said.

In September, the company announced the launch of Alot Health, an addition to the company’s existing Alot website.

“We didn’t do this specifically to meet the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange,” Ruiz said, “but, yes, it’s part of the whole revenue growth plan to meet the exchange requirements.”

According to a news release, the addition introduces Health.Alot.com, which features information on ailments, fitness, dieting and pregnancy. It also serves as a directory for searching out local physicians.