Guidester Inc., a paid search network for product manufacturers, has relaunched as Searchandise Commerce with a broader focus on search-based marketing services. The company also has appointed three new executives and secured $7.5 million in funding to support sales, marketing and growth initiatives.

Searchandise Commerce’s technology gives manufacturers tools and sponsorship opportunities to help boost placement in search results, product showcases and product listings across SearchNet, its network of retail and comparison shopping sites including PriceGrabber, Become.com and Buy.com. The company also offers a program called HitList to retailers, which allows merchants to use manufacturer-sponsored cost-per-click bids to achieve better placement in search results.

The company has named Laurence Stock chief operating officer. Previously, Stock was chief financial officer and chief operating officer of eStara, through its acquisition by Art Technology Group in 2006. Nancy Lieberman joins the company as vice president of marketing, having previously served as senior director of marketing for eStara. John Kennard is the new director of business development. Charged with building out the company’s retail network, he previously was a strategic development manager at Google and a founding member of Google Checkout. Earlier in his career, he was an account executive with eBay’s PayPal online payment system.

The new $7.5 million financing round was lead by venture company Cloquet Capital Partners LLC.