Rakuten Rewards ( ), formerly known as Ebates, is a cash-back and shopping rewards company. Its revenue comes from affiliate network links. Members of the site click through affiliate links before shopping at a retailer's site.
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, Ebates.com was launched on 3 May 1999, offering up to 25% cash back from about 40 online retailers.
In September 2014, Ebates was acquired by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten for US$1 billion. In 2019, the Ebates brand was phased out and replaced with Rakuten Rewards.
Acquisitions +DateCompanyBusinessCountryReferences8 September 2011FatWalletComparison shopping siteUnited States9 August 2012BFAdsCoupons siteUnited States8 September 2012AnyCouponsCoupons siteUnited States22 June 2012OneReceiptReceipt digitization serviceUnited States10/12/2012PushPinsCoupons mobile siteUnited States25 June 2013sold 6 December 2017ExtrabuxComparison shopping siteUnited States7 March 2016ShopularProduct discovery mobile appUnited States23 January 2017Cartera CommerceRewards program providerUnited States3 April 2017ShopStyle (and Cosmic Cart)Fashion discovery siteUnited States
Services/tools +NameDescriptionReferencesMobile appFree application for Android and iOS allows users to shop and earn cash back on mobile devices.HotelsUsers can book hotels to earn cash back.Cash Back ButtonBrowser 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.MarketplaceFormerly located at Rakuten.com, the marketplace is an e-commerce site where users can buy goods from third-party sellers.In-Store Cash BackUsers can earn cash back in stores by adding a credit or debit card to their accounts and using that card to pay in stores.
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