LookSmart Slashes Guidance

LookSmart (LOOK Quote) wasn't looking too smart Thursday after the San Francisco-based Web search engine slashed fourth-quarter guidance.

The company told investors to expect a so-called adjusted loss of $1.4 million to $1.7 million on sales of between $16.5 million and $17 million. In October, LookSmart forecast a loss of less than $1 million on revenue of around $19 million.

"The company did not sufficiently deploy sales resources against new advertisers to achieve the projections issued in late October," CEO David Hills said. "We have adjusted our deployment and in a separate release will announce the appointment of two new senior managers tasked to drive our business."

True to its word, LookSmart named Deborah Richman and Bryan Everett to head its consumer products and sales departments. The move comes as LookSmart trims its internal divisions to two from three in an effort to sharpen its focus.

Shares plunged 16% in after-hours trading, dropping 30 cents to $1.51.