InfoSpace (NASDAQ:INSP) is set to report its earnings on Feb 11. A leading developer of metasearch products has had to face several challenges with its management team this quarter. Only a few days ago the company announced that William Lansing, a 20-year veteran of the technology industry, has been named the company's new president, chief executive officer and member of the board. Lansing succeeds Jim Voelker, who will retire as president and CEO of InfoSpace after more than six years of service. Voelker will remain with the company as board chairman through 2010. Both assumed their new roles Feb. 2. "InfoSpace's strong balance sheet, metasearch applications, consumer web sites, and its highly-talented employees will translate into attractive opportunities over the next few years," said Lansing. "Jim has done a great job in building shareholder value during his tenure. I'm looking forward to working with the InfoSpace team and board to continue in that tradition." InfoSpace’s parent company Motricity has had a rough year too, it laid off hundreds of workers and decided to move to Seattle. On top of this, Steve Elfman who ran the mobile business unit of InfoSpace and helped engineer Motricity’s $135 million acquisition of that group just a year ago. Elfman was supposed to stay on for two years as part of the deal. Instead, he left in March for a top executive position at Sprint. Motricity filed suit against Elfman in a Washington state court, saying that he deceived Motricity. He practiced “duplicitous conduct” and enriched himself at the expense of Motricity, according to the suit that was first reported by a Kansas City newspaper.

On February 4, the privately held Motricity said it was able to meet its 2008 goal of reaching more than $100 million in revenues. The company also reported a number of statistics, which hinted at the company's market share and provided some evidence that people are accessing more information and entertainment on their phones than ever before.

In a move to provide innovative products, the company launched a toolbar as the first in a series of new product offerings. Featuring more than 40,000 recipes in five different categories, the Nation.com recipe toolbar provides a variety of tasty options for consumers year round. In keeping with its mission to deliver the best content available on the Web, InfoSpace has partnered with AllRecipes.com, the world’s largest social network of food and entertaining enthusiasts, to provide thousands of recipes and a variety of meal ideas for cooks of all skill levels. The toolbar features a variety of categories such as slow-cooked meals, budget meals, and changing holiday themed recipe options.