D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990 as an American business research company that provided information on companies and industries through their primary product platform named "Hoover's". In 2003, it was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet and operated for a time as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2017, the Hoover's product was re-branded D&B Hoovers. Dun & Bradstreet is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, US.
History
Hoovers was started in 1990 by Gary Hoover, Patrick J. Spain, Alan Chai, and Alta Campbell. Leading up to this, Hoover had founded the Bookstop book store chain, ultimately purchased by Barnes & Noble. Hoover's initially was called The Reference Press, as it published reference books about companies. The company then became a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet, which bought Hoover's for $119 million in 2003. After the acquisition of Avention by Dun & Bradstreet in 2017, the D&B Hoovers solution was launched, and replaced the existing Hoovers' product. Subscriptions are sold primarily to sales, marketing, and business development professionals seeking contact information for prospective customers. The database is used for lead generation, outreach, prepping for sales calls, researching companies, being alerted to changes in leadership, and acquiring new customers.
Besides publishing information through the D&B Hoovers product, information is also distributed via data feeds and third-party licensing agreements.