But that was before Google rolled out the Panda search algorithm update between February and April, which somehow (magically?) gave many of Demand’s media properties (eHow most notably) a kick down search results pages. Demand’s stock has followed with a steady decline since a $27 peak in April, falling as low as $7.65 in the turmoil over the last week — it’s about a 60% tumble since the IPO in January.

Source: Google Finance

However, today the stock is back above $10 and climbing following Demand’s second-quarter 2011 earnings report, which cited better revenue than the prior year and smaller losses compared to both the Q210 and Q111. Plus, the company made a few choice acquisitions and extended its global advertising relationship with Google as a major AdSense partner for another three years.

Demand’s second-quarter revenue (excluding traffic acquisition costs) increased 34 percent year over year to $76.6 million ($57.3 million in Q210), above analysts’ expectations of $73.9 million. This was higher than first quarter revenue of $76.3 million. Flagship website eHow accounted for 32% of revenue.

Reading the writing on the wall (“PANDA” in giant block letters), Demand has expanded its media array through widely-publicized publishing partnerships with celebrities such as Tyra Banks and Rachael Ray. Demand shared its estimate that Google algorithm changes would affect revenue by 6% in 2011.

In addition, the company has acquired two companies to bolster its marketing initiatives: IndieClick offers advertisers custom rich media ad units intentionally places to reach the much-valued 18-34-year-old demographic, while RSS Graffiti enables brands to build custom social content feeds with advanced sharing controls.

Demand is still struggling with operational losses, which were at $0.9 million compared to a $1 million loss in Q210 and a $4.2 million loss in Q111. Net loss was $2.4 million, compared to a $1.9 million loss in Q210 and a $5.6 million loss in the prior quarter. Net loss per share was $0.03 ($0.75 in Q210, $0.94 in Q111).

As for guidance for the third quarter of 2011, Demand expects revenue to be between $78.5 and $82.5 million, with losses from operations between $5.8 and $4.3 million. For fiscal 2011 on the whole, the company is estimating revenue to come in between $321.5-$329.5 million, with losses from operation falling somewhere between $10.1 and $7.1 million.

“Turning the corner” may be an exaggeration, but Demand seems to have proven to wary investors that it’s still alive, bringing in revenue and planning for a bolder future.

IndieClick describes itself as a publisher network that represents 200 vertical network sites that serve 50 million unique users and reel in 4 billion impressions a month. The agency reps a who’s who of hipster destinations, including Last.fm, PureVolume, deviantArt, Tokyo Pop and What Would Tyler Durden Do?

“We’re really focused on media planning; our audience is primarily the tail end of Generation X and all of Generation Y and they don’t like being marketed to,” Heather Luttrell, IndieClick’s president, told ADOTAS. “We’re product specific. We work with 2,000 advertisers to make sure the ad message we’re sending gets to the right audience at the right time. And every publisher approves every campaign to avoid the absolute nightmare – for publishers and advertisers – of having an audience publicly rail against a campaign on their site.”

So far, IndieClick’s psychographic ad-targeting model has worked out. Luttrell said that IndieClick sells ads on Facebook for $6 to $10 CPM – way above the alleged high-water mark of roughly $1.32 on social sites. But that’s just the way IndieClick rolls: in 2002, the company had just unfurled its welcome mat, (as an extension of the 3jane Interactive Agency), and it was already selling ads on MySpace for $4 CPM – when most people were charging $0.02.

“Our premise is, no ads are better than bad ads,” Luttrell said.

This month, Pandora and Flixster joined IndieClick’s network, primarily for its music and film expertise.

“We selected IndieClick as our music label representative due to the company’s expertise and passion in the industry,” said Cheryl Lucanegro, VP of advertising sales at Pandora, in a written statement. “They know the music scene inside and out, from independents to big labels, making them the ideal fit for us. We’re confident their dedicated team of experts will help increase our presence in front of the country’s most influential music and record labels.”

What’s next? A new level of behavioral targeting. Within 90 days, Luttrell said that IndieClick would be unveiling a tech prototype — a juiced-up cross-channel targeting method that could hit, say, only 18-year-old men who love gaming on only a handful of IndieClick’s sites.

The company is also rolling out three new ad products with video, viral and music components for shows like “Idol Tonight” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” In addition, IndieClick will be improving its client reporting. While the company has always gathered data on engagement, demographics, geographics and psychographic profiles, the information will be made available to all clients by the end of the year.

“We’re really excited about our new technological offerings,” Luttrell said. “But you know, nothing really replaces knowing the sites and knowing the audiences – which is how we got started and what we’ll always focus on.”

IndieClick is owned by 3jane Digital Holdings, an interactive development and marketing company.