MSNBC.com Selects Sprinks As Exclusive Provider of Content-Targeted Sponsored Links
Addition of Leading Online Destination Expands Web’s Largest Content Targeted Pay-Per-Click Network
New York, NY – July 7, 2003 - Sprinks, an About, Inc. company and a division of PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM), announced today the addition of MSNBC.com to its distribution network. The Sprinks network includes some of the Web’s top publishers , and is the Web’s largest network of content-targeted sponsored links. MSNBC.com, a leader in breaking news and original journalism, reaches more people each day than any national daily newspaper and is consistently ranked among the most visited news sites on the Internet.
Under terms of the distribution deal, Sprinks will be the exclusive provider of sponsored paid links on MSNBC.com. With its marquis product ContentSprinks™, Sprinks allows advertisers to bid for premium placement of sponsored links on editorial pages and email newsletters on the Web. Through this partnership with MSNBC.com, Sprinks customers will be able to place ads in MSNBC.com’s popular sections including Health, Travel, Technology/Science, Sports, Business and Living.
ContentSprinks™ presents users of a particular destination site with sponsored links relevant to the featured topic. In the case of MSNBC’s Spring Allergy Guide, ads delivered might include air purifiers, allergy tests or allergy treatments. Because advertisers bid for placement on these editorial pages by category and not keyword, the results are guaranteed to be relevant, upholding the integrity of the content they are running adjacent to and never confined to the keyword itself.
“The complete MSNBC.com offering is aligned to appeal to both broad and targeted audience segments. In either scenario, Sprinks complements our desire to offer advertising that upholds our reputation as a relevant, trusted news brand, “ said Scott Moore, president of MSNBC.com. “With Sprinks’ content-targeted advertising acting as a relevant extension of our editorial content, MSNBC.com now has a vehicle to create new opportunities for our advertisers and readers, enhancing the overall user experience across our entire site.”
“The addition of MSNBC means our advertisers will have access to one of the largest and highest-quality audiences on the Web,” said Lance Podell, general manager of Sprinks. “Because we’re focused on creating the best product for content publishers, ContentSprinks™ is able to deliver highly-targeted ads that make absolute sense in the context of the page itself.“
Sprinks’ full-service pay-per-click offerings for content include:
ContentSprinksContentSprinksä are text-based ads that appear on the contextually relevant editorial pages of high-quality publishers. Advertisers bid for position in a real-time auction based model. ContentSprinks™ are currently placed alongside content from some of the web’s most trusted sites.
DirectSprinks™
DirectSprinks™ are also bought in a real-time auction based model, but are targeted to and appear in opt-in email newsletters. DirectSprinks™ allow advertisers to reach customers when they're reading email newsletters from popular and trusted sites.
ContentSprinks™ and DirectSprinks™ were developed and proven on About.com, the Web’s largest content site. After much advertiser demand, Sprinks began to grow an external publisher network that in addition to MSNBC includes AOL, CBS Marketwatch.com, Forbes, CNET Networks, internet.com, iVillage, Burst! Media, advertising.com and eUniverse.
Consumers come to MSNBC.com for the outstanding multimedia journalism including partnerships with NBC News, Newsweek and The Washington Post. MSNBC.com was recently honored by the Online News Association, RTNDA, the National Press Foundation, and the National Press Club and is a well-regarded leader in the competitive field of news online.
About Sprinks
Sprinks, a division of About, Inc., a Primedia company, is the only bid based, pay per click network built expressly to deliver highly relevant advertising to content pages and email newsletters, as well as in search results. Sprinks provides advertisers an opportunity to place targeted ads across the web and in opt-in email newsletters for a high-quality network of web properties. Sprinks offerings include ContentSprinks™, DirectSprinks™ and KeywordSprinks™. For more information, go to .
About PRIMEDIA
One of the world's most innovative media companies, PRIMEDIA is leading the industry with its concept of targeted scale through its combination of traditional and new media properties. The Company capitalizes on its focused content across print, television, the Internet and live events to offer highly effective integrated advertising and marketing solutions in some of the most sought after advertising demographic sectors including teens, automotive, outdoor, luxury, real estate and business-to-business segments. With 2002 sales from continuing businesses of $1.6 billion, PRIMEDIA is the #1 special interest magazine publisher in the U.S., producing more advertising and editorial pages through its more than 250 titles including Automobile, Motor Trend, New York, Seventeen, Fly Fisherman, Power & Motoryacht, Telephony, Ward's Auto World and American Demographics, than any other media company. It is also the #1 producer/distributor of specialty video with 18 satellite and digital video product lines, including Channel One Network; and the #1 news and information group on the Internet, led by About.com. PRIMEDIA's stock symbol is: NYSE: PRM. More information about the Company can be found at http://www.primedia.com.
About MSNBC.comMSNBC.com is a leader in breaking news and original journalism on the Internet. MSNBC.com delivers the best of NBC News, MSNBC Cable, CNBC, NBC Sports, MSN, and Newsweek. MSNBC is a 24-hour cable and Internet joint venture of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and NBC News (NYSE: GE).