AdStar Partners With Kaango to Provide Integrated Print/Online Advertising Platform
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MediaNews Group Plans Roll Out of Initial Version of Platform in Current Quarter
LAS VEGAS, NAA 2007 Marketing Conference, Jan. 29 -- AdStar, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADST) and Kaango, Inc. today announced a long-term marketing agreement that will enable Kaango to integrate AdStar's Web-based Ad Sales solution into Kaango's classified advertising sales and publishing environment. The agreement will allow visitors to any Kaango-powered Web site to post both print and full-featured online ads through a single point-of-sale environment. The two companies also announced that MediaNews Group will be the first media organization to offer the integrated platform on its newspapers' Web sites, with a launch set for the first quarter of 2007.
On most traditional newspaper Web sites, advertisers seeking to post both an online and a print ad must either follow two paths to get the task accomplished, or must settle for "online" versions of their print ads with limited features. According to Kaango's President Michael Kranitz, "The ability to offer an instant and seamless print upgrade option in a feature- rich online ad sales tool like ours provides our partners with a competitive advantage over online-only marketplaces and other venues that have disjointed systems and confusing processes."
In addition to having a seamless path to both print and online publishing options, users' online ads will feature a level of detail currently unmatched by any vendor in the industry. Kaango's dynamic adNatures(TM) technology creates ads containing unprecedented detail in the form of fielded data unique to the categories in which the ads are posted, whether real estate, automotive or general merchandise.
The new integrated platform allows users to navigate through a single sales process with a simultaneous view of both their online and print ads. Kaango's partner newspapers will use this technology to encourage the purchase of "Combo Ads," especially by web advertisers who initially express little or no interest in the print product. This should increase total ad sales from the web while improving overall margins generated by ads sold online. Other AdStar features available in the combined offering include EdgCapture payment processing, new reporting and publisher administration tools, and in the future, support for a mobile channel and ad campaign management capabilities.
"Our ad management technology and reverse publishing expertise, when combined with Kaango's advanced classified platform and point-of-sale application, will allow newspaper publishers to begin recapturing their share of the online market," said AdStar's President and CEO, Leslie Bernhard. "The fact is, if newspapers offer only online ads on their Web sites, then they will sell only online ads. As a result of our partnership with Kaango, newspapers can offer a variety of ad packages that will drive revenue higher while providing advertisers the power of choice and the opportunity to expand the reach and effectiveness of their ads."
The Kaango platform aggregates liner, display and web-based classifieds in a single marketplace. In addition, the service allows print customers to upgrade their ads online without pre-payment or "up-sells" from call center personnel.
About Kaango, Inc.
Kaango, Inc., headquartered in Denver, Colo., provides web-to-web, web-to-print and print-to-web classified ad software for newspapers, television stations and other publishers of online classified listings. Additional information is available at www.Kaango.com.
About Adstar, Inc.
AdStar, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADST) is the leading provider of e-commerce transaction software and services for the advertising and publishing industries. AdStar's proprietary suite of e-commerce services includes remote ad entry software and web-based ad transaction services, as well as payment processing and content processing solutions that are provided through its Edgil Associates subsidiary, the industry's largest supplier of automated payment processing services. AdStar's ad transaction infrastructure powers classified ad sales for more than 100 of the largest newspapers in the United States and a growing number of other online and print media companies. EdgCapture, Edgil's automated payment process solution, is currently employed by call centers at more than 100 of the nation's leading newspaper and magazines.
AdStar Company Contact: Jeff Baudo, 310-577-8255, jbaudo@adstar.com
