More than 24 internet companies launched IPOs last year in the US alone according to Renaissance Capital. 2011 included four of the five largest internet IPOs in US history (Bankrate, Groupon, LinkedIn and Zynga) raising $2.4 billion. However, if you bought internet or social media IPO shares in the last two years, you have probably lost money. According to Birinyi analyst Kevin Pleines, 18 of the 30 stocks are below their IPO price and 24 of the 30 are below their opening price on their first trading day.

The drop has been attributed to slow growth in the US economy and sovereign debt in countries such as Greece and Italy. Economic concerns caused market volatility that made it difficult to price IPOs.

Internet IPOs of 2011 include Angie’s List, Bankrate, Cornerstone OnDemand, LinkedIn, and Zillow. OnDemand Media, Groupon and Pandora are well below IPO prices. China’s big IPOs, RenRen and Tudou, also have well-bid prices.

Angie’s List

Health care provider and contractor review site Angie’s List waited 16 years before going public on Nov. 17. The initial public offering price was $13 and rose to more than $18 on the first day of trading. It closed at $16.42 on December 14, but had fallen below the IPO price earlier in the month. The company is not profitable.

bank fee

Bankrate (RATE) has a long history of operation since its foundation 35 years ago. The company collects bank interest rate data and information on 300 other financial products from 4,800 banks and distributes it to various newspapers and online publications. Bankrate Inc.’s initial public offering drew a weak response on the first day of trading as investors fret over high debt, past governance issues and lofty valuation.

Cornerstone on demand

The on-demand talent management company (US:CSOD) jumped 46.7% to close at $19.07 in its initial public offering. Cornerstone offers software as a service that enables businesses to train employees and track their employees’ performance.

LinkedIn

This business-to-business social media company went public on May 19 at $45 a share. On the first day, the stock rose to almost $110. At the time, LinkedIn subscribers (Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley) were criticized for pricing so low. Analysts suggested that LinkedIn should have been priced at $90 a share. However, LinkedIn is one of the few Internet companies that has never dipped below its initial offer and closed at $65.95 on December 14, so perhaps subscribers were right in their conservative pricing. LinkedIn claims that it has been profitable since 2006.

Zillow

This company provides real estate market information for real estate consumers and professionals. It appeared on July 20 when it was priced at $20 and hit $44. For most of September it hovered between $35 and $37.50 but closed at $22.13 on December 14. Zillow became profitable in its first quarter as a public company.