ShopLocal and Topix.net Combine Shopping and News to Help National Advertisers Reach Target Local Markets Online


Chicago, IL and Palo Alto, CA- July 12, 2006 – ShopLocal, the leading provider of Web-to-store (W2S) and e-commerce marketing solutions for retailers, and Topix.net, the top nationwide local news site, today announced the launch of a new advertising platform—relevant sales circular inventory presented online to local audiences. These advertisements, in the form of content rich, dynamic Web banners, will connect local customers to ZIP code specific offers from retailers’ online circulars. The combination of ShopLocal’s SmartMedia technology automatically versioning retailers’ content and Topix.net’s ability to serve that content to local consumers, provides advertisers with an easy to utilize resource for developing localized banner ads as well as a ready-made channel for local distribution.

“For years, ShopLocal has been committed to helping retailers reach local audiences on the Web,” said Brian Hand, ShopLocal’s CEO. “Now, through our SmartMedia technology and Topix.net’s ability to pinpoint local audiences, we’ve shrunk the Web down to size, allowing advertisers a simple way to market a very complex set of local offerings and increase their Web-to-store sales.”

Topix.net provides news aggregated from over 30,000 sources and tags stories by town or topic. This enables people to get their local news, nationwide, down to the ZIP code. By partnering with ShopLocal, Topix.net can provide an online version of the sales circulars that consumers have had for years, and display offers on products available from retailers in their neighborhoods. Unlike search based solutions, online news sites like Topix.net provide a serendipitous connection to offers that consumers might not be explicitly searching for but are relevant to their location.

“Getting people the news that’s relevant to them is the main purpose of what we do here at Topix.net, and that includes local sales and offers for the products you need everyday,” said Rich Skrenta, CEO of Topix.net. “Combing inventory and ShopLocal’s SmartMedia technology with our ability to find and connect with local audiences is a win for both advertisers and online consumers who are increasingly getting their news and information online”.

As of today, the new advertising platform is available to all nationwide local advertisers interested in increasing their Web-to-store (W2S) sales. The first installment of this advertisement is featured on all Topix.net local news pages, for example www.topix.net/sf . ShopLocal and Topix.net are related by investments from the Tribune Company and Gannet Inc.

About ShopLocal

ShopLocal, LLC (www.ShopLocalLLC.com) is the leading Web shopping company for consumers and retailers. With ShopLocal.com and The ShopLocal Network -- made up of more than 200 affiliate media, search, and shopping sites -- consumers have access to the only place on the Web with information on products from local stores side-by-side with e-commerce options. With ShopLocal’s SmartCircular and Smart Catalog services, retailers can distribute sales and promotional content through The ShopLocal Network as well as their own Web sites.

About Topix.net

Founded in 2002 with the specific mission of providing users with the ability to quickly and easily find targeted news on the Internet, Topix.net is a news aggregator with unique technology to find and categorize news into 360,000 topics, from Autos to ZIP code level local news. Topix.net distributes content via partnerships with top tier web properties including AOL, Earthlink, Ask, My Yahoo, Infospace and thousands of others.