INDIANAPOLIS – The future of marketing will come from brands’ evolving to meet the real-time demands of hyper-connected consumers, according to executives from the world’s largest technology companies.

Discussed before a sold-out crowd of more than 3,000 marketers attending ExactTarget’s Connections conference, executives from Yahoo, Facebook, Adobe, Twitter, Klout and Foursquare underscored the ongoing transformation of marketing and the new real-time imperative for business.

“Social media has completely changed what marketers do and how they do it,” said Brad Rencher, senior vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe, during his remarks to conference attendees. “Interactive marketing is delivering on the dream that Madison Avenue has had for years – delivering messages with speed, context and relevance in real time to drive results.”

The comments concluded ExactTarget’s annual Connections conference that welcomed marketers from around the world for three days of education and content that included keynotes from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, author Aron Ralston and executives from Facebook, Adobe, Yahoo!, Best Buy, Klout and Foursquare. The event also marked the unveiling of ExactTarget’s expanded suite of interactive marketing products including:

Audience Builder – Provides marketers a powerful solution to consolidate, analyze and take action on customer data in real time through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to create targeted audiences for campaigns across email, mobile, social media and the Web.

Automation Studio – Adds drag and drop automation to plan and power messages across email, mobile, social or Web campaigns based on consumer behavior, time or custom attributes.

Campaign Management – Expands central campaign planning and calendaring capabilities to seamlessly coordinate channels using a single integrated storyboard that dynamically links campaigns on email, mobile, Twitter, Facebook, Web and offline channels.

HubExchange – Opens ExactTarget’s interactive marketing platform for select third-party application development and innovation. The first applications available include Marketo’s lead management application and Klout’s social influence data application.

Integrated Reporting – Expands real-time Pulse dashboard reporting to provide cross-channel analytics and campaign performance measurement and ROI analysis.

MobileConnect – Expands ExactTarget’s mobile application with messaging templates, automation, cross-channel execution, campaign management and real-time analytics.

Report Builder – Provides a new data discovery and customizable reporting application that enables marketers to explore engagement metrics and channel preferences.

SocialPages – Adds new Facebook page creation and campaign management capabilities with integrated analytics and real-time engagement features.

Protected By ExactTarget – Adds enterprise ‘WatchDog’ functionality to provide users real-time monitoring and alerting of account activity and customizable access controls.

The conference also marked the launch of ExactTarget’s Latin America Division in Sao Paulo, Brazil following the acquisition of email marketing provider Frontier Digital. The company also announced the ExactTarget Foundation, a charitable foundation chartered to combat childhood hunger, advance education and accelerate entrepreneurship worldwide.

“We challenged marketers this week to harness the power of technology to evolve their brand, improve their interactions with consumers and make a positive difference in the world,” said Scott Dorsey, ExactTarget cofounder and chief executive officer. “The news and innovations unveiled this week provide cutting-edge solutions to empower organizations to market to the power of one by creating a common view of each consumer and connecting with each in real time with relevant content across all channels.”

For more information about ExactTarget’s expanded product line, visit www.ExactTarget.com.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing and interactive marketing solutions. The company’s Interactive Marketing Hub technology provides organizations a single solution to connect with customers via email, integrated text messaging, landing pages and social media. Supported by collaborative global services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among many others. ExactTarget powers permission-based multichannel communications for thousands of organizations around the world including Expedia.com, Best Buy, Papa John’s, CareerBuilder.com, Gannett Co., Inc., The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Home Depot and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.com.

NEW YORK – At the 2010 Streaming Media East Conference, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced major new advancements to the Adobe Flash® Platform — Adobe’s design and development platform for creating and delivering content, video and applications that run consistently across operating systems and devices. Highlights include the immediate availability of Adobe Flash Access™ 2.0 software, a content protection solution that enables the distribution and monetization of premium video content, which can help create new sources of revenue for media publishers. In addition, Adobe is also showcasing HTTP Dynamic Streaming, a new protocol support for media streaming on the Flash Platform; and the Open Source Media Framework, to accelerate development of custom media players.

Adobe demonstrated its new solutions during the Streaming Media East 2010 Conference at its booth (#226) at the New York Hilton Hotel, May 10-12.

These powerful new Flash media delivery tools come in advance of the much-anticipated releases of Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR® 2, which are optimized for high performance on mobile screens and designed to take advantage of native device capabilities for a richer, more immersive user experience.

Doug Mack, vice president and general manager of Digital Imaging and Rich Media Solutions at Adobe

“Adobe continues to innovate and develop media playback solutions that enable our customers and partners to build their businesses and become more profitable; whether it’s by helping to protect and monetize video content or by offering new options for delivering media to the Flash Platform. With approximately 75 percent of video on the Web delivery with Flash technology, Adobe and its broadcast and media customers are leading the industry and revolutionizing how the digital video industry creates and consumes rich media.”

Steven Roberts, senior vice president for New Media and Business Development at DIRECTV

“DIRECTV has always focused on providing a superb user experience, whether it is on television, online, or on mobile devices. We use the Adobe Flash Platform for content delivery because of the ubiquity of the Adobe Flash Player and the quality and advanced features like DVR functionality that Adobe Flash technology delivers. We’re thrilled to be maximizing our customers’ online experience and their bandwidth, using the power and innovation of Adobe’s HTTP Dynamic Streaming and Limelight Networks’ global delivery platform.”

Alex Blum, CEO, KickApps

“KickApps is committed to enabling a broad range of social media experiences including social video for organizations of all kinds. Our collaboration with Adobe on the OSMF App Studio is an important example of this commitment and will accelerate time-to-market and enable playback experiences limited only by the creativity of our shared customers. With the Cloud-based OSMF App Studio, users can create highly customized, full featured media players with drag-and-drop ease, including the ability to integrate best-of-breed third party applications, content, and Web services. OSMF is one more way Adobe is advancing the ability for organizations to take advantage of the power of the Adobe Flash Platform.”

Protecting and Monetizing Premium Content

Further advancing the Flash Platform, Adobe today made available Adobe Flash Access 2.0, a scalable, flexible content protection solution that enables the distribution and monetization of premium video content.
Adobe Flash Access 2.0 provides a way to combine the unprecedented reach and interactivity of the Adobe Flash Platform with robust security and flexible usage rules so that businesses can enforce necessary constraints, such as limiting viewing to a given rental period.
Adobe Flash Access 2.0, previously known as Adobe Flash Media Rights Management Server, enables media publishers to effectively monetize video content using a variety of business models, such as pay-per-view, electronic sell-through or advertising funded business models.
New in this release, content protected with Flash Access 2.0 will play back securely online via Flash Player 10.1 software as well as Adobe AIR 2.0. Also new in Flash Access 2.0 is support for output protection, which can be used to protect content sent to external displays.
Adobe® Flash® Access 2.0 is one of the first approved content protection solutions selected by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE). DECE is a consortium of leading content providers, consumer electronics companies, technology vendors and service providers working to enable improved consumer access to entertainment content.

Expanding Content Delivery with HTTP Dynamic Streaming

Building on the success of Adobe’s Flash Platform for the delivery of streaming content, Adobe’s new HTTP Dynamic Streaming leverages industry standards to provide content publishers, distributors and developers the tools they need to utilize HTTP infrastructures for high-quality media delivery in Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.
While Flash Media Server 3.5 remains the choice for delivering interactive media experiences over RTMP (Real Time Message Protocol) with features like new trick modes, smart caching technology, protection and real time communication, customers will now have the flexibility to use HTTP Dynamic streaming, which enables the use of existing network infrastructures and standard Web server hardware to deliver rich media experiences on a massive scale.
HTTP Dynamic Streaming includes integration of content protection powered by Flash Access 2.0, allowing publishers to encrypt and apply business rules to their premium video content for both live and Video on Demand (VOD). Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming allows publishers to secure valuable video content with a flexible workflow while maintaining the robust and persistent content protection features of Flash Access.
HTTP Dynamic Streaming supports all of the high-quality media codecs supported by the Flash Platform today, including H.264 and VP6, and all of the uses cases media companies rely on, including high quality live and recorded media with adaptive bit-rate and network DVR support to the Flash player.

Accelerating Media Player Development

Rounding out Adobe’s media delivery solution for the Flash Platform, the Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) is an open framework for building custom media players.
The new framework will help establish an industry standard for media players and will offer production-ready components to help streamline the development process, reducing the time content publishers spend creating and integrating playback technologies.
OSMF enables developers to easily assemble pluggable components to create high-quality, full-featured playback experiences.
The open framework enables collaborative development focused on Web video monetization with lower costs and faster turnaround.
Multiple partners are already providing plug-ins for OSMF, including advertising, analytics, content delivery and platform services companies Adap-tv, Akamai, Anvato, Conviva, Edgecast, FreeWheel, GlanceGuide, KickApps, Level 3Limelight Networks, MediaMelon, Omniture (an Adobe company), Podaddies, Quantcast, ScanScout, Streaming Media Hosting, Tremor Media Videoplaza and YuMe.
Helpful Links

Adobe Flash Access website: www.adobe.com/go/flashaccess

HTTP Dynamic Streaming for the Flash Platform website: www.adobe.com/go/httpdynamicstreaming

Open Source Media Framework website: www.osmf.org

Adobe Flash Media Blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/flashmedia

Kevin Towe’s Blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/ktowes

FlashStreamWorks.com: www.flashstreamworks.com

Streaming Media East website: www.streamingmedia.com/Conferences/East2010

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Flash Access 2.0 is available immediately. For pricing information related to Adobe Flash Access 2.0, please contact an Adobe sales representative at www.adobe.com/go/flashaccess_rfi. HTTP Dynamic Streaming for video on demand is expected to be available at no charge. Pricing for HTTP Dynamic Streaming for live streaming is available upon request. Both products are scheduled to ship in late May. OSMF is free, and is expected to be available in late May.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Prices listed are the Adobe direct store prices in the U.S.; reseller prices may vary. Prices do not include tax or shipping and handling.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Omniture, an Adobe company (NASDAQ:ADBE), and a leading provider of online business optimization software, announced new analytics and optimization capabilities within the Omniture Online Marketing Suite.

New capabilities within the Omniture Online Marketing Suite

- Omniture SiteCatalyst, an advanced online analytics solution
- New and innovative dashboarding capabilities making it easier to display, print and share critical online business insights across the organization.
- An expanded mobile device database now including recognition of the iPad, so customers can segment and run reports based on iPad user behavior.
- Ability to measure iPad applications and video usage on the iPad.
- Enhanced reporting and administration improvements that empower daily users with better visualization of data and easier management of broad account user groups.
- Omniture Discover, a solution for deep insight and advanced segmentation
- More accurate measurement of visitor engagement by time spent, time segmentation and more granular trending for greater insight into hourly visit dynamics.
- Improved segmentation features with time-based rules for better understanding of visitor behavior and new rule operators for building more concise segments.
- Better usability and workflow for easier access to projects and customizable default metrics for enhanced conversion and traffic reporting.
- Omniture Test&Target, a best-of-breed solution for real-time A/B and multivariate testing
- Ability to personalize and improve effectiveness and performance of iPad applications with A/B and multivariate testing, dynamic content targeting and audience segmentation.
- Optimize mobile Web content for display and interaction on the iPad.

The new features are available now.

About Omniture, an Adobe company

Omniture, a business unit of Adobe Systems Incorporated, is a leading provider of online business optimization software for managing and enhancing online, offline and multi-channel business initiatives. Hosted and delivered via on-demand subscription service and on-premise solution, Omniture software enables customers to capture, store and analyze information generated by their Web sites and other sources, providing business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. For more information, visit www.omniture.com.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

SALT LAKE CITY – Omniture Summit 2010

Omniture, an Adobe company (NASDAQ:ADBE) and a leading provider of online business optimization software, and Facebook®, announced that they will provide online marketers with solutions to optimize Facebook as a marketing channel. This partnership builds on the Facebook analytics and Facebook application analytics capabilities Omniture announced last year.

As the industry moves beyond marketing that ‘interrupts’ the consumer’s online experience, companies are increasingly seeking ways to join the conversation and have more relevant interactions with their customers. This alliance can help companies more easily integrate Facebook as a marketing channel in order to connect to and have relevant conversations with Facebook’s more than 400 million active users. As a result, companies will be able to better understand and optimize the impact and ROI of their Facebook investments. Marketers will then be able to incorporate Facebook as an integral part of their unified, multi-channel marketing mix – an approach increasingly used by marketers today for marketing planning, budgeting and execution.

Initially the two companies will focus on the most fundamental needs of online marketers today: the ability to automate Facebook media buying and access analytics that measure customer engagement on Facebook.

Facebook Media Buying

Marketers see an opportunity to engage interested customers on Facebook and promote the most relevant content, promotions, products and services. With this solution, Omniture customers can now utilize Omniture SearchCenter Plus, which is the combination of the company’s search engine marketing management application with new functionality for purchasing Facebook Ads. Omniture customers can now more easily ramp their ad spend on Facebook and compare Facebook ad campaign metrics alongside other media channels.

Facebook Analytics and Optimization

Marketers see the opportunity to build and reward customer loyalty on Facebook. To help in these efforts, Omniture customers can now generate reports specifically designed to understand ad effectiveness for some of the unique elements of Facebook such as Facebook Pages and applications.

Omniture customers are already utilizing both Facebook and Omniture to build awareness, customer loyalty and generate revenue. For example, Electronic Arts has invested in social gaming as a means to become a leader in cross-platform social entertainment.

“Facebook can be a powerful channel to reach and engage interested customers,” said Randall Reeves, senior manager, customer insights and analytics, Electronic Arts. “As evidenced by our recent acquisition of social gaming company Playfish, we consider the social networking arena a valuable part of our business. As we coordinate our social entertainment strategy across multiple channels, we anticipate leveraging Facebook even more in the future, especially as Facebook and Omniture work together to provide the integrations and tools necessary to help us measure and optimize our efforts more effectively.”

“It is evident that marketing is undergoing a significant transformation as more digital innovations and channels emerge. Accordingly, more and more of our customers’ customers are using Facebook,” said Josh James, senior vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit. “With this collaboration between two market leaders, Facebook and Omniture will provide the new tools online marketers need to connect with the right customer at the right time in the world of social media.”

“Working with us, Omniture has been able to develop a rich and immersive set of tools that will help our clients better understand the value of their Facebook advertising campaigns,” said Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice president of business development and monetization. “By creating a single dashboard to plan, deliver and measure campaigns, Omniture can make advertising on Facebook easier and ultimately increase ROI for clients.”

Omniture and Facebook will continue to expand this partnership as marketers increasingly utilize this channel to optimize visitor acquisition, conversion and retention. For more information, please contact your Omniture account manager.

About Omniture, an Adobe company

Omniture, a business unit of Adobe Systems Incorporated, is a leading provider of online business optimization software for managing and enhancing online, offline and multi-channel business initiatives. Hosted and delivered via on-demand subscription service and on-premise solution, Omniture software enables customers to capture, store and analyze information generated by their Web sites and other sources, providing business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. For more information, visit www.omniture.com.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

About Facebook

Founded in February 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

To better optimize ad spend, search marketers require insight into the actual queries consumers are entering for research or buying needs. However, collecting and analyzing query data and managing bid strategies for large sets of keywords is complicated and time consuming. The newest version of SearchCenter addresses these issues with several updates that include:

Consolidated query data reports across all supported search engines that save effort and time required for analysis by search marketers.
Analysis of query data provides additional keyword recommendations based on search behavior from actual queries resulting in additional traffic for advertisers.
Create bid management strategies with new default templates or easily create custom bid management strategies based on key conversion metrics.
“Recently, our company was named a winner in the B2B online awards, thanks to our use of Omniture SearchCenter and Omniture SiteCatalyst,” said Petra Studholme, paid search manager, Xbridge Limited (www.simplybusiness.co.uk). “With the new updates to SearchCenter, I no longer have to run search query reports from Google. I can manage this process directly within SearchCenter. This functionality alone saves me a couple of hours a day. SearchCenter now plays a significant role in our growing online initiatives.”

“The latest SearchCenter release will help BGT advance the level of insight we provide into our clients’ marketing programs,” said David Clarke, Founder and Managing Partner of BGT Partners, one of the oldest and most award-winning interactive agencies in the U.S. “The new keyword recommendation application will help further expand and optimize our keyword lists. Additionally, updates to the bid rule functionality have allowed for better and more efficient management of paid search campaigns.”

Omniture SearchCenter is the company’s search engine marketing management application and is now approaching $1 billion in ad spend under management. SearchCenter is part of the Omniture Online Marketing Suite, an integrated suite of optimization applications for visitor acquisition, conversion, online and channel analytics.

The new version of Omniture SearchCenter is now available. For more information on Omniture SearchCenter, contact your Omniture account manager, call toll free (877) 722-7088 or visit www.omniture.com/en/products/search_marketing/searchcenter.

About Omniture, An Adobe company

Omniture, a business unit of Adobe Systems Incorporated, is a leading provider of online business optimization software for managing and enhancing online, offline and multi-channel business initiatives. Hosted and delivered via on-demand subscription service and on-premise solution, Omniture software enables customers to capture, store and analyze information generated by their Web sites and other sources, providing business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. For more information, visit www.omniture.com.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

“The online VoD industry has the early lead for delivering Advanced Video Advertising, but the Pay-TV industry is moving quickly and will surpass broadband VOD by 2012,” says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. “Because Pay-TV services deliver qualified, repeatable audiences, we expect them to be able to negotiate higher Cost per Thousand (CPM) fees than online services.”

Advanced Advertising is the next-generation approach that permits advertisers to dramatically improve their targeting, reporting, and overall return on investment (ROI).

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

TV Everywhere initiatives will extend ad-supported Pay-TV VOD services to online and mobile users.
Among the key companies enabling advanced video advertising are Adobe, Arris, Brightcove, Cisco, Motorola, Rovi, Sigma Systems, and thePlatform.
The Cable TV industry’s Canoe Ventures is working to help Pay-TV operators create large, plan-able audiences that can be cost-effectively sold directly to the large national advertisers.
The research, “US Advanced Advertising” (#IN0904467MBI), covers the US market for the value of Advanced Advertising services. It includes:

Examination of the next-generation approach to advertising.
Analysis of how this approach impacts new and old media outlets.
Descriptions of how advanced advertising works.
Forecasts for US households using ad-supported VOD, broken down by broadband and Pay-TV access, through 2013.
For a free sample of the report and more information, please contact a sales representative: http://www.instat.com/sales.asp

To purchase it online, please visit: http://www.instat.com/catalog/mmcatalogue.asp?id=289

The price is $3,495 (US).

About In-Stat

In-Stat’s market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions.

SAN JOSE, Calif. & OREM, Utah – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Omniture, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMTR) announced the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Adobe to acquire Omniture in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion on a fully diluted equity-value basis. Under the terms of the agreement, Adobe will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Omniture for $21.50 per share in cash.

Adobe’s acquisition of Omniture furthers its mission to revolutionize the way the world engages with ideas and information. By combining Adobe’s content creation tools and ubiquitous clients with Omniture’s Web analytics, measurement and optimization technologies, Adobe will be well positioned to deliver solutions that can transform the future of engaging experiences and e-commerce across all digital content, platforms and devices.

The combination of the two companies will increase the value Adobe delivers to customers.

For designers, developers and online marketers, an integrated workflow — with optimization capabilities embedded in the creation tools — will streamline the creation and delivery of relevant content and applications. This optimization will enable advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers and e-tailers to achieve greater ROI from their digital media investments and improve their end users’ experiences.

“Adobe customers are looking to us for solutions to deliver engaging experiences and more effectively monetize their content and applications online,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe. “This is a game changer for both Adobe and our customers. We will enable advertisers, media companies and e-tailers to realize the full value of their digital assets.”

“Omniture’s mission has been to enable our customers to optimize every digital interaction,” said Josh James, CEO of Omniture. “By joining forces with Adobe, we will accelerate our ability to deliver on that vision and together bring new innovation to the market that improves content engagement, advertising effectiveness and the overall user experience, which will drive more advertising dollars online.”

Expanded Opportunities for Adobe and Omniture

This acquisition will significantly expand Adobe’s addressable market and growth potential, broadening solutions Adobe provides to the rapidly growing Internet advertising, e-commerce and digital media markets.

The combination will also expand Adobe’s offering of mission-critical solutions to the enterprise customer. Adding the capabilities of Omniture will further enhance Adobe’s offerings and ability to appeal to online marketers, including chief marketing officers.

The acquisition of Omniture will further diversify Adobe’s business, adding a scalable SaaS platform that captures over a trillion transactions per quarter, an expansive partner ecosystem, and a recurring revenue model.

For Omniture, joining Adobe will provide global operational scale and the ability to more quickly penetrate new geographies and markets, thereby accelerating its go-to-market strategy and growth potential.

Integration and Closing Details

As part of the expected integration of the two companies, Omniture will become a new business unit within Adobe. Omniture’s CEO, Josh James, will join Adobe as senior vice president of the new business unit, reporting to Adobe’s president and CEO, Shantanu Narayen.

The completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary government approvals and the satisfaction of other customary conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Adobe’s 2009 fiscal year.

The proposed offer represents a premium of 45 percent over Omniture’s average closing price for the last 30 trading days through yesterday’s close.

Adobe believes the acquisition will be accretive to Adobe’s non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2010.

The companies will make information, including an FAQ and other details about the acquisition, available at http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/adobeandomniture.html.

Although the concept of live banners has been around for some time, Immedium is believed to be one of the first tools that empowers marketers with the ability to edit and update the content of banner ads on the fly, without the need for technical skills. The technology paves the way for a host of new advertising applications that exploit the powerful animation and multimedia capabilities of authoring tools such as Adobe® Flash® with dynamic content that reflects the marketing opportunities of the moment.

“The response we’ve received from everyone that has seen Immedium is outstanding,” said Dennis Cookson, managing director of Studio Magenta, a visual communications firm established in 2003 to serve clients in Asia and around the world. “When they see how easily and quickly they can update the content of rich media ads they begin to imagine campaigns that were previously unthinkable.”

Immedium supports both manual updating of banner ad content using nothing more than a standard browser, and automated updating whereby ads are linked to an online database or RSS feed. “Distributing a banner ad with content driven by your database is the ultimate marketing tool,” said Cookson. “It’s maintenance-free, it’s always up to date, and it can run indefinitely, promoting any profile of your inventory.”

Examples of applications for Immedium include the promotion of last-minute flight bookings, hotel rooms, and other perishable products, advertisement of job vacancies, properties for sale, financial rates & offers, event countdowns, concert booking availability, online betting, and sports results. The platform includes metrics for measurement of ad & campaign performance, and being UnicodeTM compliant, supports ads in any language.

For information on using or licensing Immedium, visit www.immedium.net.

About Studio Magenta

Studio Magenta is a privately held Thai company serving a global market with customers in Asia, USA, and Europe. Providing advertising and marketing services for both print & digital media, Studio Magenta combines visual communications with innovative design and software skills to build new brands and help grow existing businesses.

Note: Adobe and Flash are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and other countries.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Lyris, Inc., the online marketing expert, announced that executives Blaine Mathieu, CMO, and Erick Mott, communications director, will present at the 2009 Email Evolution Conference. Mathieu will join industry leaders from Kaiser Permanente and Convince & Convert to deliver a presentation titled “Search & Email: The Yin & Yang of Online Marketing,” and discuss how leading companies are optimizing the intersection of search and email.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. MT

WHERE: Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, AZ

Erick Mott will moderate a discussion on the case study, “Lessons Learned from a Cool, Cause-Marketing Initiative,” led in partnership with the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which Lyris supports, and a volunteer-team of Email Experience Council members from many different organizations. He will also present how social media and online communities can help cause-marketing initiatives.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:15 a.m. MT

WHERE: Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, AZ

Lyris will be exhibiting in the Experience Hall at Booth #204. Conference attendees and those unable to join can connect with Lyris presenters and discuss related topics on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Jointly organized by the DMA and The Email Experience Council, the 2009 Email Evolution Conference is organized by and for email marketers. For more information, visit: http://www.the-dma.org/conferences/emailevolution/index.shtml.

About Lyris, Inc.

Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:LYRI) is the online marketing expert delivering the right mix of software technology and industry knowledge to help its customers simplify their marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Through the delivery of the industry’s first on-demand integrated marketing suite, Lyris HQ, and knowledge-sharing community, www.lyrishq.com, to secure and reliable on-premise solutions, including Lyris ListManager, Lyris provides customers the right tools to optimize the management, collaboration and execution of their online and mobile marketing initiatives. These sophisticated, yet easy-to-use tools provide marketers a suite of best-of-breed applications for managing email marketing campaigns, publishing and managing Web site content, creating landing pages, optimizing Web sites and search engine marketing. Clients include ACCESS Systems Americas, Adobe, American Apparel, Body Glove, Johns Hopkins University, JupiterMedia and Nokia. For more information, please visit www.lyris.com. The company is based in Emeryville, Calif.

SAN FRANCISCO – Lyris, Inc., the online marketing expert, announced social media enhancements to the Lyris HQ integrated online marketing suite. With Lyris HQ, marketers are now able to leverage their email marketing campaigns and messaging to empower recipients to share and discuss news and relevant topics with colleagues, fans and friends on popular social networking sites including Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. Marketers can also analyze how well social media is performing in terms of reach, interaction and ROI on social networking and originating sites, with no extra integration or technical know-how needed. An added component of this new functionality is the ability for marketers to better understand, segment and report inbound engagement from many social networking sites.

Marketers that want to tap into Web 2.0 with Lyris HQ can now:

* Leverage email marketing campaigns and messaging on 10 social sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Digg, Furl, StumbleUpon, Newsvine, del.icio.us, Google Bookmarks and Reddit; the Web 2.0-version of forward to a friend.
* Use new Web analytics to easily track where interest and results are coming from and see real-time measurement from social networking and viral marketing efforts.
* Maximize integrated marketing strategies and scale messaging across networks by using tools to measure metrics, track click-throughs and gauge the success of Web 2.0 initiatives.

“We are always looking for ways to enhance our email communications and broaden the reach and value of our online marketing efforts,” said Sylvia Sierra, senior vice president of corporate audience development, Access Intelligence. “We’re seeing more of our professional audience engage in social networks and are excited to see Lyris adding this new functionality.”

Consumers are more actively engaged on social networks than ever before and the demand for these services continues to grow. According to IDC’s “U.S. Consumer Online Attitudes Survey Results Part III,” more than three-quarters of social networking users visit social networking sites at least once a week, and no less than 57 percent visit daily.1 However, marketers still face challenges. A recent JupiterResearch study found that 30 percent of social marketers said figuring out which tactics suit their campaign goals continues to be their top challenge when engaging with social networks.2

Marketers believe social media has an impact on marketing results, but many struggle with capturing key metrics and justifying spend on Web 2.0 initiatives to senior executives. Lyris HQ’s integrative nature allows marketers to understand how successful a company’s social media campaigns are, whether or not they are linked to an email campaign. They can see, on a granular basis, when and from where an end user arrives to their site and what message or conversation generated the response.

“End users are spending more time on social networking sites and expect better content and more meaningful conversations as a result. Marketers see the need and opportunity to engage with users on social networking sites, but many don’t have the resources or ability to manage new campaigns, track their effectiveness and justify the spend,” said Blaine Mathieu, chief marketing officer, Lyris, Inc. “Lyris HQ’s social media enhancements allow marketers to broaden the reach and ROI of their online campaigns to the ever-growing number of users spending time and consuming content on social networking sites.”

Availability

Lyris HQ’s social media enhancements are available immediately to new and existing customers. For more information please visit: http://www.lyris.com.

About Lyris, Inc.

Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:LYRI) is the online marketing expert delivering the right mix of software technology and industry knowledge to help its customers simplify their marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Through the delivery of the industry’s first on-demand integrated marketing suite, Lyris HQ, and knowledge-sharing community, www.lyrishq.com, to secure and reliable on-premise solutions, including Lyris ListManager, Lyris provides customers the right tools to optimize the management, collaboration and execution of their online and mobile marketing initiatives. These sophisticated, yet easy-to-use tools provide marketers a suite of best-of-breed applications for managing email marketing campaigns, publishing and managing Web site content, creating landing pages, optimizing Web sites and search engine marketing. Clients include ACCESS Systems Americas, Adobe, American Apparel, Body Glove, Johns Hopkins University, JupiterMedia and Nokia. For more information, please visit www.lyris.com or connect on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lyris. The company is based in Emeryville, Calif.

1 IDC, U.S. Consumer Online Attitudes Survey Results Part III, By Karsten Weide and Caroline Dangson, http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS21540708

2 JupiterResearch, Social Marketing Scorecard, 2008, By Emily Riley and David Card, http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/research:concept/1231/id=100429

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced online traffic statistics associated with live coverage of the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of The United States.

As the largest day ever for the delivery of concurrent live streaming over the Akamai EdgePlatform, the Company reported it delivered a peak of over 7 million active simultaneous streams (the majority being live streams) at approximately 12:15 p.m. ET today. A real-time view of streaming on the Akamai EdgePlatform can be seen at: http://www.akamai.com/html/technology/dataviz3.html.

“In addition to the historic nature of the Inauguration, it is now clear that this event has driven unprecedented demand from a global online audience,” said Robert Hughes, executive vice president of Global Sales, Services, and Marketing at Akamai. “With the Inauguration occurring during work-day hours in the U.S., we witnessed record numbers of live streams served in support of many leading news businesses. For an event of this scale, Akamai’s globally-distributed EdgePlatform is unique in its ability to bypass congestion points on the Internet, and to ensure a reliable, high-quality experience for our customers. While this event was supported flawlessly for our broadcast customers, it is also important to point out that Akamai continued to deliver perfect quality of service for the remainder of our 2,800 enterprise customers. This is just the beginning of what is possible when broadcasting live to audiences around the world.”

Today also represented a single-day peak on the Akamai EdgePlatform for concurrent live streams utilizing Adobe Flash technology, serving over 800 Gbps of Flash streaming.

“It is an honor to provide the underlying media technology required for leading broadcasters and media organizations, as they delivered live online coverage of this momentous event,” said Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager of Dynamic Media at Adobe. “With so many viewers eager to see the ceremonies and hear the first words of our 44th President, we knew the combination of Adobe Flash technology and Akamai would bring this inauguration to the broadest possible online audience.”

Total traffic on the Akamai network surpassed a rate of more than 2 terabits per second at approximately 12:15 p.m. ET. Akamai also delivered over 12,000,000 requests per second at the same time.

Akamai’s Net Usage Index for News (http://www.akamai.com/html/technology/nui/news/index.html) also recorded a significant traffic peak today. Akamai’s index is the world’s first and only daily Web traffic report with information on aggregate total visitors per minute to over 100 news portal sites. The index indicated that at approximately 11:45 a.m. ET today, over 5.4 million visitors per minute were looking for news and information content online.

Adobe Flash Player is on over 98 percent of connected computers and delivers more than 80 percent of Web video worldwide, ensuring that content and applications are presented consistently in the format users want. For more information on the Adobe Flash Platform, please visit http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform.

The Akamai Difference

Akamai® provides market-leading managed services for powering rich media, dynamic transactions, and enterprise applications online. Having pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai’s services have been adopted by the world’s most recognized brands across diverse industries. The alternative to centralized Web infrastructure, Akamai’s global network of tens of thousands of distributed servers provides the scale, reliability, insight and performance for businesses to succeed online. Akamai has transformed the Internet into a more viable place to inform, entertain, interact, and collaborate. To experience The Akamai Difference, visit www.akamai.com

LOS ANGELES – Panache, the ad-insertion platform for major media and entertainment companies, announced that its Media Maps have resulted in nearly one billion online video ads to date. The figure reflects more than an 850 percent increase from 2007, and underscores significant usage from major media and entertainment companies looking to drive ad-driven in-stream revenue. Panache expects its ASP platform, which enables unlimited video ad avails and performance of ad insertions with its patent-pending Media Map technology™, to process its billionth ad in January, 2009.

Panache is now working with more than 15 major publishers to productize their business, dynamically create ad avails, and provide in-stream ad insertion into a wide array of premium video content. Media and entertainment companies with multi-channel in-house ad sales need straightforward solutions that promote profitability from their online video operations. Panache’s open platform provides major networks the infrastructure to create unlimited ad avails, support both live and on-demand video ad insertion, report on video and advertising and drive greater efficiencies for ad operations, ad sales and technology groups.

“Networks and major publishers are struggling with how to drive efficiencies across key areas including ad products, player engineering and ad operations,” said Steve Robinson, president of Panache. “As the online video advertising industry continues to mature, publishers are increasingly looking for ways to productize operations, streamline their efforts and gain better control. Major networks need an ad insertion and reporting solution that provides a comprehensive infrastructure without affecting existing workflows. They also seek quick and sustainable profits for all their video—short form, long form, on-demand and live streams.”

Despite the economic downturn, online video advertising spend is projected to reach close to $1 billion in 2009, as more traditional media companies distribute professional-quality content online (eMarketer). According to Comscore, 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed an online video in October, with the projected number of online video advertising viewers expected to reach 174.8 million in 2012 (eMarketer).

In addition to publisher success, Panache has also grown its ecosystem of partners this year. More than a dozen major partnership deals were forged in 2008, including a joint venture with Adobe to insert in-video ads into the Adobe Media Player (AMP). Panache also expanded its reach into rich media by joining with interactive in-video advertising leader PointRoll. Other major relationships include Microsoft, thePlatform and Adify.

The Panache platform reduces the cost and complexity of ad insertion and awards media and entertainment companies total control of ads in any syndication or distribution. As networks move more content online, options expand to make full use of programming. Panache’s agnostic approach gives publishers highly flexible ad product choices and immediate opportunity to monetize video content.

Panache’s proprietary Media Mapping technology orchestrates ad insertion into any number or combination of avails. Dynamic and easily changeable, this technology ensures that every ad insertion, including the video’s entire ad experience, occurs exactly as planned.

For more information, please visit: www.panachetech.com.

About Panache

Panache is an ad insertion platform providing media and entertainment companies with the infrastructure to increase revenue from their video business. Publishers can create more ad avails for long-form, short-form, HD, on-demand streams and live events – all with the same toolset and no interruption to existing workflows. With Panache, publishers have complete control over their in-video advertising regardless of distribution model, enabling syndication and precise reporting that follows their campaigns anywhere.

Founded in 2006, Panache is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles.

Given the global recession, lots of things won’t happen in 2009, of course. So ABI Research’s analysts focused on several of the company’s core areas of expertise, including mobile marketing and mobile banking, near-field communication, digital media, IPTV, transportation, navigation and location based services, mobile phones and mobile telecoms, intellectual property, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and other networks, with a special look at Asia.

Any contrarian look at what won’t happen naturally sheds light on what might. While many markets are undeniably in turmoil, there are opportunities as well as challenges, and surprising bright spots amid the gloom.

Will mobile marketing hit the big time? No; but the mobile Internet is powering ahead and creating a foundation for the future.

Will IPTV replace traditional broadcast TV? Absolutely not. But some markets are robust and some providers are prospering.

Will the “location industry” get lost? No: in fact 2009’s climate may have a bracing effect in the longer term.

With its mix of expert opinion, informed assessments, and wry humor, “What’s Not Going to Happen in 2009″ makes for a lively and informative read.

To download the white paper in Adobe PDF format, go to www.abiresearch.com and click on the “What Isn’t Going to Happen in 2009” ad button.

ABI Research is a leading market research firm focused on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets. Utilizing a unique blend of market intelligence, primary research, and expert assessment from its worldwide team of industry analysts, ABI Research assists hundreds of clients each year with their strategic growth initiatives. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

PARK CITY, Utah – Lyris, Inc., the online marketing expert, announced Lyris HQ Mobile, a new SMS texting solution that allows marketers to send timely, relevant and targeted text communications to opt-in audiences. With the introduction of Lyris HQ Mobile into the Lyris HQ integrated online marketing suite, today’s marketers can now streamline online and mobile marketing campaigns within the same rich interface, reducing the cost and complexity of managing campaigns, while increasing ROI.

Marketing channels continue to expand and marketers need to take full advantage of consumers’ busy and active lifestyles. According to the Mobile Marketing Association’s Annual Mobile Attitude and Usage Study, one in four mobile subscribers in the U.S. and Western Europe expressed either strong or moderate interest in mobile marketing efforts.(1) JupiterResearch, a Forrester Research company, predicts that by 2013, there will be 371 million U.S. wireless subscribers, and of those, 201 million will be SMS users.(2)

“Mobile device users are continuing to grow in number which presents significant opportunities for marketers that want to strengthen relationships with their core audiences,” said Blaine Mathieu, chief marketing officer, Lyris, Inc. “Lyris HQ Mobile allows marketers to broaden engagement with prospects and customers, wherever they spend their time.”

In a recent Forrester Research report, David Daniels, vice president and principal analyst confirmed this by writing, “Marketers must consider the impact of emerging communication channels and of increasing favorability of text messages on specific demographic segments.” (3)

Enabling Marketers to Engage Consumers Anytime, Anywhere

With today’s mobile consumer, online marketers have the added pressure of supporting and tracking campaigns with both online and mobile elements. Lyris HQ Mobile allows users to sign up for SMS messages via text message or by completing an opt-in form. Lyris HQ Mobile handles all opt-in requirements set forth by the mobile carriers and provides reports back to marketers in real-time so they are aware of what is working and what needs improvement.

There are many use cases for Lyris HQ Mobile. These include community organizations providing timely updates to their members, promoters who send SMS texts to concert-goers who have opted in to receive messages while attending a show, or tradeshow sponsors who want to drive traffic to a specific location or event within a conference.

Capabilities and features of Lyris HQ Mobile include:

* The ability to send one-time messages immediately, as well as on a scheduled or recurring basis to specific users
* The capability to target messages to individuals or groups of subscribers that provide users with exclusive offers, polls or location/event specific coupons
* Support for a broad range of campaign types including surveys, contests, transactional messages, and promotional copy
* Dedicated, customizable shortcode or shared shortcode options are available
* Query and reporting capabilities that provide marketers with insight such as the status of a message, individual response rates and return of messages sent to bad numbers
* Enforced double opt-in process as required by wireless carriers
* API-based interface allows easy connection to other applications

“Today’s marketers are forced to expand their marketing channels into media like mobile while also increasing their level of reporting and analysis,” said Jim Sterne, chairman of the Web Analytics Association. “Solutions that can integrate these functions and tie results into an overall digital marketing campaign will be a key asset to marketers looking for competitive advantage in today’s economy.”

Availability

Lyris HQ Mobile is available as an API-based solution. Lyris has partnered with Air2Web to help provide SMS to Lyris HQ customers. For more information please visit: http://www.lyris.com.

About Lyris, Inc.

Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:LYRI) is the online marketing expert delivering the right mix of software technology and industry knowledge to help its customers simplify their marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Through the delivery of the industry’s first on-demand integrated marketing suite, Lyris HQ, and knowledge-sharing community, www.lyrishq.com, to secure and reliable on-premise solutions, including Lyris ListManager, Lyris provides customers the right tools to optimize the management, collaboration and execution of their online and mobile marketing initiatives. These sophisticated, yet easy-to-use tools provide marketers a suite of best-of-breed applications for managing email marketing campaigns, publishing and managing Web site content, creating landing pages, optimizing Web sites and managing pay per click campaigns. Clients include Nokia, Adobe, PalmSource, Johns Hopkins University and JupiterMedia. For more information, please visit www.lyris.com. The company is based in Emeryville, Calif.

About Air2Web, Inc.

Launched in 1999, Air2Web helps marketers harness the power of mobile to engage with their consumers. Over the past 10 years, Air2Web has launched thousands of mobile marketing campaigns. Air2Web offers companies the tools and technology to promote products and brands, improve the efficiency of customer service and enable mobile transactions, anytime, anywhere. Air2Web is the trusted mobile resource for some of the largest, most influential brands in the world, including AT&T, Procter & Gamble, WalMart, Starbucks, UPS and many more. For more information on Air2Web, visit www.air2web.com.

The statements in this news release relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements based on management’s beliefs and assumptions using currently available information and expectations as of the date hereof, and are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Lyris Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot give any assurances that these expectations will prove to be correct. Lyris assumes no duty to publicly update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1 “MMA: One in four U.S. users interested in mobile marketing,” FierceMobileContent, November 12, 2008. (http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/mma-one-four-u-s-users-interested-mobile-marketing/2008-11-12).

2 “US Wireless Forecast, 2008 to 2013: Reaching the Tipping Point for Mobile Data Services,” JupiterResearch, a Forrester Research Company, July 30, 2008. (http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/research:concept/81/id=100473/).

3 “The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools,” JupiterResearch, a Forrester Research Company, July 10, 2008. (http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/research:vision/1103/id=100409/).

SAN MATEO, Calif. – BlackArrow, the independent provider of multiplatform advertising systems for viewer-controlled video, today announced BlackArrow AdMaps™, a sophisticated toolset that enables content providers and distributors to easily define and manage ad avails in and around video content. The AdMap suite extends BlackArrow’s advertising system by introducing tools to manage ad-placement opportunities for programming delivered over broadband and SCTE 130-5 compliant video on demand (VOD) environments. AdMaps provide a time-saving workflow to create new advertising inventory, integrate new ad formats easily and update ad-sales models quickly – all without requiring changes to the existing infrastructure or media player code.

The new suite consists of the AdMap Builder tool to create and manage AdMaps, AdMap Server to deliver the right AdMap for the viewer and, for broadband deployments, a software development kit (SDK) to render AdMaps in common broadband players.

“The lack of tools to easily define and manage rules for ad-placement opportunities in and around video is proving to be a major bottleneck for ad-supported business models,” said Chris Hock, senior vice president, product management at BlackArrow. “With ad strategies undergoing rapid-fire change, programmers and distributors are wanting to experiment safely — in a way that maximizes revenues, without jeopardizing innovation or user experience. BlackArrow’s AdMaps suite addresses this need head-on with practical conventions for creating new ad avails and managing ad-insertion opportunities for viewer-controlled video platforms.”

AdMap Builder is a rich Internet application (RIA) that enables users to create an unlimited combination of permissible ad types, durations and other insertion rules. All user-defined ad-insertion points are displayed graphically to help clients visualize and package ad inventory effectively across multiple video platforms.

AdMap Server selects from among multiple AdMaps to return the best fit based on viewer data – as well as targeting criteria such as audience demographics, content genre and playout environment – before fulfilling each request with the most relevant ad, or series of ads, as defined by the AdMap. AdMap Server conforms to SCTE 130-5 standards for a placement opportunity information service (POIS) in VOD environments, enabling rapid deployment and product interoperability with other SCTE-130 compliant vendors. For broadband distribution, AdMaps are stored as standard SMIL files, which can be read easily by leading media players from Adobe, Move Networks and other providers using the enhanced BlackArrow Player Framework.

AdMaps lay the foundation for BlackArrow’s continued product innovation. Designed to scale, the AdMaps suite is ideally suited to manage intricate affiliate relationships and complex ad-split arrangements within a centralized environment. Moreover, AdMaps supply an important framework from which content providers and distributors will be able to manage and accurately forecast their video inventory.

About BlackArrow, Inc.

BlackArrow is the independent provider of multiplatform ad management for viewer-controlled video. The company’s ad-management system is designed specifically for video content distributed over any on-demand platform — enabling content providers and distributors to maximize advertising revenues, and improving advertisers’ ability to reach target audiences. BlackArrow is led by an experienced team of executives from the advertising, television and digital media industries, and is backed by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital (NASDAQ: INTC), Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners. The company is privately held, with offices in New York City and San Mateo, Calif. http://www.blackarrow.tv

BlackArrow and BlackArrow AdMap are trademarks of BlackArrow, Inc.

ATLANTA/CAMBRIDGE, MA – November 24, 2008 – EyeWonder, Inc., a leading innovator in interactive digital advertising technologies and services, and Akamai Technologies, Inc., the global leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced today that they delivered the first in-stream advertisements via Microsoft Silverlight for New York Magazine’s “Where’s Rogan?” interactive campaign.

The “Where’s Rogan?” series aired in eight weekly segments on New York Magazine’s Website at www.nymag.com/rogan/ and is a tongue-in-cheek expose of eco-conscious fashion designer Rogan Gregory, who goes missing during New York’s Fashion Week. During the Webisodes, viewers can control the advertising experience by interacting with product placement bugs and tickers from three advertisers involved with the project: Olay, TRESemme and Continental Airlines. During one episode, a ticker advertisement for Continental Airlines runs across the bottom of the screen. When a viewer clicks on it, a separate window opens to the airline’s main booking page, allowing users to book a flight while watching the video. Another episode features an Olay product placement bug which, when clicked, pauses the video to show the viewer a mini commercial. When the ad finishes, the video resumes playing.

“New York Magazine’s use of the Universal In-Stream Ad Framework (UIF) for this campaign highlights EyeWonder’s continued innovation in the video space,” said Chief Information Officer Ricky McClellen. “Viewers benefit because they decide which advertising they want to see and the length of time they want to see it without disrupting the video they’re watching. Advertisers benefit because their ads drive higher interaction rates, creating product awareness in consumers. Publishers are able to monetize their content and create new advertising space.”

EyeWonder integrated its UIF, an open standard platform that enables a “create once, play anywhere” ad solution to drive scale within the in-stream advertising industry, with Akamai’s open source code media player framework. This integration gives New York Magazine’s Silverlight-based video player the ability to deliver interactive in-stream advertising. The video player application impacts the way consumers experience video content and enables business models by controlling how and when ads are delivered. To support this movement, Akamai and industry leaders launched Openvideoplayer.com to facilitate open standards and best practices for video player applications that support a wide range of advertising technologies.

“New York Magazine’s project is a great inaugural example of the power of Akamai’s Media Framework, showcased through Microsoft Silverlight,” said Tim Napoleon, Chief Strategist for Digital Media at Akamai. “The Media Framework enabled EyeWonder to quickly and easily develop a dynamic and interactive advertising experience that lent itself to increasing brand awareness for the companies involved. The ability to deliver a high-quality experience for consumers and brands is the ultimate goal of Akamai’s open Media Framework. We look forward to watching how users interact with the ads interspersed throughout the video as well as giving advertisers a vehicle to monitor how their ads are received.”

“The ‘Where’s Rogan?’ project is another great example of how the robust technology behind Silverlight can create unique online media experiences that engage audiences in a very powerful way,” said Brian Goldfarb, Director of the Developer Platform Group at Microsoft Corp. “This project, in collaboration with Akamai and EyeWonder, opens up new doors for advertisers to present their brands in dynamic and interactive ways.”

Viewers must download the Silverlight player plug-in to watch “Where’s Rogan?” episodes. The first installment aired October 27, and the final aired November 20.

About Akamai
Akamai provides market-leading managed services for powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online. Having pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai’s services have been adopted by the world’s most recognized brands across diverse industries. The alternative to centralized Web infrastructure, Akamai’s global network of tens of thousands of distributed servers provides the scale, reliability, insight and performance for businesses to succeed online. Akamai has transformed the Internet into a more viable place to inform, entertain, interact and collaborate. To experience The Akamai Difference, visit www.akamai.com.

About EyeWonder, Inc.
EyeWonder, Inc., is the pioneering interactive digital advertising provider, extending the reach of online rich media and interactive video ads to digital device displays. Through its superior technology, products and services, EyeWonder empowers advertisers, advertising agencies and content publishers with the ability to create, build, deliver, track and optimize interactive advertising campaigns proven to drive industry-leading results. EyeWonder’s Universal In-Stream Ad Framework supports Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flash. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., EyeWonder, Inc., has domestic offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami. International offices are located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Australia. For more information on the company’s interactive digital advertising solutions or its global office network, please visit http://www.eyewonder.com.

Silverlight is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation and is used for descriptive purposes only.

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai Technologies, Inc.’s management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to future benefits arising from the Akamai Media Framework. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, failure of Akamai technologies to be or remain compatible with offerings of other companies and other factors that are discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

SAN FRANCISCO (Adobe MAX 2008 Conference) – November 17, 2008 – BlackArrow, the independent provider of multiplatform ad-management systems for viewer-controlled video, today announced the addition of Adobe® Media Player to its expanding list of distribution platforms. BlackArrow provides video content publishers using Adobe Media Player with a centralized system for defining ad avails and managing targeted campaigns against their programming. BlackArrow’s seamless advertising workflow enables content providers to broaden their syndication, while optimizing revenues from ad-supported video programming.

BlackArrow gives video networks a syndication edge by delivering advertising directly into Adobe Media Player programming, as well as other Web properties and even platforms such as dynamic video on demand (VOD). To simplify advertising operations, the BlackArrow system dynamically generates enhanced media RSS feeds that incorporate targeted ads formatted specifically for playback within Adobe Media Player. Leveraging Adobe Flash® technology, Adobe Media Player supports downloaded and streamed media that scales to full-screen HD resolution.

“When it comes to user experience, Adobe has set the standard with its ubiquitous Adobe Flash platform — and has done it again with the Adobe Media Player,” said Chris Hock, senior vice president, product management at BlackArrow. “As an Adobe advertising partner, we are committed to enabling a sophisticated, engaging advertising experience for viewers — whether they watch their favorite content inside the browser, or outside the browser with the Adobe Media Player — while introducing new revenue opportunities for content and media publishers.”

“From the outset, we’ve built Adobe Media Player to provide a rich, engaging consumer viewing experience, and help content providers build an advertising business around their valuable video assets,” said Sumner Paine, product manager for Adobe Media Player at Adobe. “As consumers increasingly control their own viewing experience, BlackArrow makes it easier for content providers to both manage ad campaigns and incorporate Adobe Media Player into their overall video syndication strategy.”

Built from the ground up for video, the BlackArrow multiplatform advertising system enables content providers to solve the challenges associated with reaching today’s fragmented audiences who increasingly view video programming outside of traditional linear airtimes. The BlackArrow system works across any combination of ad types, ad-sales models, affiliate and syndication strategies, enabling its customers to more effectively generate revenue from ad-supported video content.

About BlackArrow, Inc.
BlackArrow is the independent provider of multiplatform ad management for viewer-controlled video. The company’s ad-management system is designed specifically for video content distributed over any on-demand platform — enabling content providers and distributors to maximize advertising revenues, and improving advertisers’ ability to reach target audiences. BlackArrow is led by an experienced team of executives from the advertising, television and digital media industries, and is backed by Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital (Nasdaq: INTC), Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners. The company is privately held, with offices in New York City and San Mateo, Calif. http://www.blackarrow.tv

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Lyris, Inc., the online marketing expert, today announced that Yvonne Yuen, senior product manager, will deliver a presentation titled “Integrated Online Marketing Paves the Way to Marketing Success” at ad:tech New York.

Rapidly expanding marketing channels and increasing digital options are making it difficult for marketers looking to improve and centralize their online efforts. Disparate point tools exist but only solve a fraction of marketers’ problems and can make running marketing operations and campaigns more complex. Marketers need easy, affordable and integrated online marketing solutions that will enable them to take control of their activities and measure results.

Yuen will address an audience of brand marketers, advertising agencies and online publishers on how marketers can master digital marketing and technology integration to overcome today’s marketing challenges and pave the way to greater ROI.

WHO: Yvonne Yuen, senior product manager, Lyris, Inc.

WHAT: Seminar entitled “Integrated Online Marketing Paves the Way to Marketing Success”

WHEN: Monday, November 3, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. Eastern time

WHERE: New York Hilton, New York, NY

To see Lyris’ solution in action, please visit booth #706 on the ad:tech exhibition floor.

For more than ten years, ad:tech has provided media, marketing and technology professionals with tools and techniques to succeed in a changing digital world. With 11 shows in seven countries, ad:tech’s globally respected roster of speakers, workshops and exhibitors continues to make it a resource and destination for digital marketers everywhere. For more information please visit: http://www.ad-tech.com/ny/. To access the complete agenda of special events, including this year’s vendor seminars, please visit: http://www.ad-tech.com/ny/adtech_new_york_events.aspx#3.

About Lyris, Inc.

Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:LYRI) is the online marketing expert delivering the right mix of software technology and industry knowledge to help its customers simplify their marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Through the delivery of the industry’s first on-demand integrated marketing suite, Lyris HQ, and knowledge-sharing community, www.lyrishq.com, to secure and reliable on-premise solutions, including Lyris ListManager, Lyris provides customers the right tools to optimize the management, collaboration and execution of their online marketing initiatives. These sophisticated, yet easy-to-use tools provide marketers a suite of best-of-breed applications for managing email marketing campaigns, publishing and managing Web site content, creating landing pages, optimizing Web sites and managing pay-per-click campaigns. Clients include Nokia, Adobe, PalmSource, Johns Hopkins University and Jupitermedia. For more information, please visit www.lyris.com. The company is based in Emeryville, Calif.

New York, New York (October 20, 2008) – An official Adobe Ecosystem partner, Eyeblaster today announced that Eyeblaster Workshop v2.0 for Adobe Flash™ is fully compatible with all versions of the Adobe® Creative Suite®, including the much anticipated Adobe® Creative Suite® 4.

“Eyeblaster Workshop v2.0 shares CS4’s timesaving collaborative workflow, making it easy to pass production projects to freelancers or outside resources for approvals and editing,” said Gal Trifon, CEO and Co-founder of Eyeblaster. “With Eyeblaster Workshop, Adobe’s CS4 enables designers and developers enhanced communications and more collaboration, allowing them to unleash their creative potential and change the rules of engagement.”

“Improved collaboration and production capabilities are essential to giving agencies the ability to work seamlessly with each counterpart and focus on what matters most,” said Alison Hamon, Vice President and Creative Director for Liquid Advertising, Inc. “The integration of Eyeblaster tools and Adobe’s new CS4 truly empower the creative process, and will make it easier to execute robust digital campaigns.”

As today’s digital landscape evolves, products like Creative Suite 4 and Eyeblaster’s suite of tools and services enable creative professionals to dream big and harness every aspect of their digital campaigns for seamless integration across platforms, maximum reach and enhanced interactivity.

For more information about Eyeblaster or their products visit the official website at www.eyeblaster.com.

About Eyeblaster

In 1999, Eyeblaster was among the pioneers in rich media communication. Today, Eyeblaster extends its inventive heritage in digital advertising through Ad Campaign Manager (ACM). ACM enables interactive agencies, advertisers and publishers to manage campaigns across digital media channels, including online, mobile and in-game, and a variety of formats, including rich media, in-stream video, display and search. ACM is a robust, integrated and easy-to-use platform that allows customers to focus on campaign strategy, creativity and media efficiency without having to worry about the technical complexities associated with managing global advertising campaigns online.

In 2007, Eyeblaster delivered campaigns for nearly 7,000 brand advertisers serving approximately 2,500 ad agencies across over 2,700 global web publishers in over 40 countries worldwide throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Learn more at http://www.eyeblaster.com.

“The sheer volume of submissions coupled with the extraordinary level of creativity that cut across such a wide swath of platforms and technologies speaks to the vitality of the interactive advertising industry,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “Interactive advertising is breaking new ground in engaging consumers in ways that we had not even dreamed of, and the pace of change will only continue to accelerate.”

This year, submissions jumped by nearly 40 percent, and were sent in from hundreds of leading agencies, representing traditional advertising agencies and native digital shops which entered work across virtually every major vertical industry.

The gala’s ultimate honor, Best in Show, went to TEQUILA\ and Nissan for its “Rogue Launch.” TEQUILA\ and Nissan took home additional honors for digital video, digital integration and VOD and interactive television, winning golds in all three categories. “The Rogue Launch” was based on consumer insights geared to Generation X males who wanted to still feel “in the game” and tap into a sense of playfulness. The campaign was credited as the most successful new car launch in Nissan’s history.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners, last year’s Best in Show agency winner, won two golds this year in Product Launch and Business-to-Business for its campaign “Adobe Layer Tennis” for the launch of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3. And in a testament to the breadth and variety of brands’ interactive campaigns, some marketers were honored in multiple categories for work with different agencies. BMW, for example, was honored for its work with three different agencies—Dotglu, JOGO Media and GSD&M Idea City across the categories of Direct Response and Lead Generation, In-Game Advertising and Social Marketing, respectively.

The MIXX Awards are the only juried advertising competition that evaluates all critical components of the interactive marketing mix, including strategy, creative, execution and results. To view the complete gallery of the MIXX Winners please visit: www.mixx-awards.com/gallery

The Complete List of 2008 MIXX Award Winners:
Best in Show

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

Brand Awareness and Positioning
GOLD: American Express OPEN and Digitas for “OPEN Forum”

SILVER: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and BlockDot for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Now You Know Better!”

BRONZE: U.S. Army and Universal McCann for “U.S. Army Halo 3 Experience”

Product Launch
GOLD: Adobe Creative Suite 3 and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for “Adobe Layer Tennis”

SILVER: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

BRONZE: P&G/Downy and Digitas for “Discovering Radiance”

Direct Response and Lead Generation
GOLD: ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

SILVER: BMW North America and Dotglu for “1 Series Interactive Launch”

BRONZE: McDonald’s and OMD for “Dollar Menunaires”

Business-to-Business
GOLD: Adobe Creative Suite 3 and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for “Adobe Layer Tennis”

SILVER: Dell and T3 for “Times Square We believe: in small business”

BRONZE: Motorola and BBDO New York for “Cityscape”

Public Service/Not-for-Profit
GOLD: The Ad Council / U.S. Department of Justice / National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Merkley + Partners for “Think Before You Post”

SILVER: The Bridgespan Group and Sapient Interactive for “One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference”

BRONZE: Roundabout Theatre Company and Situation Marketing for “Sunday in the Park with George – Connect: The Dot Project”

Search Marketing
GOLD: Honda Certified Used Cars and RPA for “Custom Search Program”

SILVER: Covad Communications and Geary Interactive for “Localized Search Campaign”

BRONZE: Adobe Systems Incorporated and Adobe Search Marketing for “AIR/RIA”

Super-Rich Media
GOLD: Apple Inc. and TBWA\Media Arts Lab for “ Don’t Give Up”

SILVER: Apple Inc. and TBWA\Media Arts Lab for “Banging, Knocking & Hiding”

BRONZE: HBO and Deep Focus for “Flight of the Conchords”

Multicultural
GOLD: U.S. Army and Sensis for “Leaders Among Us”

SILVER: The Home Depot and The Vidal Partnership for “Colores Origenes “Mixer” Campaign”

Widget Marketing
GOLD: Honda Civic and RPA for “Honda Civic Tour: Panic at the Disco”

SILVER: Kimberly-Clark and MindShare for “Huggies Baby Countdown”

BRONZE: Samsung and Cheil Worldwide for “Juke by Samsung”

In-Game Advertising
GOLD: BMW and JOGO Media for “BMW M3 Challenge”

SILVER: Nissan and OMD for “Forza 2”

BRONZE: The Coca-Cola Company and MediaVest for “Sprite NBA Gaming”

Digital Video
GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER: Neutrogena and Tribal DDB Worldwide for “The Wave Power Cleanser”

BRONZE: Microsoft Small Business Products and Cole & Weber United for “Microsoft Small Business Summit”

Social Marketing
GOLD: Alberto-Culver Company and Carat for “Extreme Style by VO5”

SILVER: BMW and GSD&M Idea City for “1 Series – Facebook Graffiti Contest”

BRONZE: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

International Award
GOLD: Vodafone and OgilvyOne Worldwide, Athens for “Livefeeds”

SILVER: Air New Zealand and Host for “Home Sweet As”

BRONZE: Coke Europe and Sapient Interactive for “Coke Burn Alter Ego”

Mobile Platforms
GOLD: Virgin Atlantic Airways and McKinney for “ Love from Above”

SILVER: MasterCard Worldwide and MRM Worldwide for “Peyton Pep Talks with Peyton Manning”

VOD and Interactive Television
GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER: AXE and BrightLine iTV for “Art of Skin Contact”

BRONZE: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and BrightLine iTV for ”Sprays in the City”

Brand Destination Site
GOLD: MasterCard Worldwide and MRM Worldwide for “Priceless.com”

SILVER: American Airlines and TM Advertising for “AAdvantage Milestones”

BRONZE:
Pabst Brewing Company and Cole & Weber United for “The Tales of Colt 45”

Digital Integration

GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER:

Liberty Mutual and Hill Holliday for “The Responsibility Project”

BRONZE:

ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

Cross-Platform Integration
GOLD: Liberty Mutual and Hill Holliday for “The Responsibility Project”

SILVER: ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

BRONZE: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

MIXX 2008 Judges:

Marketers:

* Cheryl Guerin – VP, Global Digital Marketing, MasterCard Worldwide
* Jenny Howell – Manager of Interactive Marketing, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
* Carole Irgang – SVP, Integrated Marketing Communications, Kraft Foods
* Carol Kruse – VP, Global Interactive Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company
* Tim Murphy – Senior Director Digital Marketing, Anheuser-Busch
* David Roman – VP, WW Marketing Communications, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard Company
* Debbie Jo Severin – VP, Marketing, Covad Communications Group, Inc.

Agencies:

* Marty Cooke – Chief Creative Officer, SS+K
* Jean-Philippe Maheu – Chief Digital Officer, Ogilvy North America
* Hans Neubert – Executive Creative Director, Avenue A | Razorfish
* Michael Prieve – Chief Creative Officer, Doremus New York
* Alan Schulman – SVP, Executive Creative Director, Executive Director of User Experience, imc2
* Baba Shetty – EVP Chief Media Officer, Hill Holliday
* Joanne Zaiac – President, Digitas, New York

Publishers:

* Heidi Browning – SVP, Client Solutions, FOX Interactive Media
* Mark D’Arcy – Chief Creative Officer, Time Warner Global Media Group
* Jane Grenier – VP, CondéNet
* Wonya Lucas – EVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Discovery Communications
* Suzie Reider – Director of Advertising, YouTube
* David Sturman – Chief Technology Officer for Massive (a Microsoft company)
* Lauren Wiener – SVP, Meredith Interactive Media

MIXX Awards Sponsors:
Adweek Media
Brightcove.com
Broadband Enterprises
Comcast Spotlight
Forbes.com
International Data Group (IDG)
Microsoft Advertising
Terra Networks
Traffiq
ValueClick Media
Yahoo!

About the IAB:

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Banner
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels
Agency: IAC Advertising Solutions / Client: Bacardi
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Castrol SYNTEC

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Expandable Banner or Overpage Unit
Agency: Juxt Interactive / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Coke Zero
Agency: Liquid / Client: Paramount/The Spiderwick Chronicles
Agency: Unicast / Client: Warner Brothers/Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Homepage Takeover/Sponsorship
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Sony Pictures/Pineapple Express
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Walt Disney Pictures/Wall-E
Agency: The Visionaire Group / Client: Universal Pictures/Wanted

Content Integration
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express OPEN
Agency: Monster Worldwide Inc. / Client: PBS/Military.com
Agency: Sojern / Client: Delta Air Lines/E-Ticket

Standalone E-mail
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express and DailyCandy, “Local Deals”
Agency: Merkle Inc. / Client: Corporate Express
Agency: Yesmail / Client: HP

E-mail Campaign
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Verizon Wireless
Agency: Smith-Harmon Inc. / Client: REI
Agency: Tribal DDB / Client: Pepsi-Cola North America, “Pepsi Stuff Insider”

Search Campaign
Agency: 90octane / Client: Globus Family of Brands
Agency: Bigmouthmedia / Client: Hilton Hotels
Agency: Stinson Partners / Client: Costa Cruise Lines

Video Appearing in a Banner, Pre-Roll, Interstitial or In-Stream Unit
Agency: A&E Television / Client: A&E Television
Agency: TM Advertising/Janimation/EyeWonder – Client: Superpages.com
Agency: VML / Client: Dr Pepper

Standalone Video (Not Principally Deployed on YouTube)
Agency: AKQA / Client: AOL News, “Where Are They Now?”
Agency: Enlighten / Client: Bioré, “Let’s Face It”
Agency: Vibrant Media / Client: Unilever, “Blondes vs. Brunettes”

YouTube Video Ad
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: Intuit / Client: TurboTax, “Ping Pong and Taxes Made Easy”
Agency: KulaVortex.com / Client: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, “28 Seconds Later”

Rich Media Campaign
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Paranormal State
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish/Euro RSCG Worldwide / Client: Nabisco/Ritz, “Open for Fun”
Agency: PointRoll/Armchair Media/Turf / Client: College Board

Contest/Promotion/Sweepstakes
Agency: Dailey / Client: Intuit/TurboTax, “Tax Rap”
Agency: Exopolis/MMA Creative Group / Client: Roxy and Schick Quattro, “Follow Your Heart”
Agency: Liquid Advertising / Client: After Dark Films, “Miss Horrorfest”

Campaign in Social Media
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish / Client: Washington Mutual
Agency: McCann Erickson / Client: VeriSign Inc.
Agency: Sapient / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Burn

Mobile or Wireless Campaign
Agency: Ad Infuse/Mindshare/Phonevalley / Client: Strongbow Cider, “Flirtogram”
Agency: AKQA / Client: Nike, “PHOTOiD”
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/Jumper

Use of Gaming
Agency: AKQA / Client: McDonald’s
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Colgate Palmolive/Speed Stick 24/7
Agency: Play/Denuo / Client: General Motors/Buick

Use of Widgets
Agency: Cheil Worldwide / Client: Samsung/Juke
Agency: Euro RSCG 4D / Client: iShares
Agency: Mediaedge:cia/Mindshare / Client: Ford/Sync

Viral Campaign
Agency: Brief Attention Span Communications / Client: Serena Software, Inc., “Just @#$% It” and “Go @#$% Yourself”
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: McKinney / Client: Virgin Mobile, “Promiscuous Text”

Advertising/Promotion Web Site or Microsite
Agency: 65 Media / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/The Simpsons Movie
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners / Client: Adobe Creative Suite 3, “Adobe Layer Tennis”
Agency: Q Interactive / Client: UPS, “UPS Whiteboard Headquarters”

PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With a gloomy national economic season looming, reinforced by exploding fuel prices and rising unemployment reports, it’s no surprise that the advertising industry is also anticipating a season of uncertainty. Marketing professionals are experiencing increasing challenges daily, virtually unable to discern tangible results, while simultaneously paying growing media rates that aren’t justified. Ad Age’s top story in the June 23rd issue confirms “Big marketers, facing a weakening economy…clamped down on spending (in 2007).” As evidenced by recent shifts of many Fortune 500 marketing budgets, it’s clear the advertising industry is on the verge of a major overhaul.

86% of marketers claim pressure is mounting for tangible results

According to the 2008 “State of the Marketer” survey report from Eloqua, accountability pressure is growing: 86 percent of marketers say pressure has increased on them to account for results. Moreover, 68 percent of organizations are measuring the quantifiable contribution of marketing to the bottom line.

Tim O’Leary, co-founder and CEO of Portland, Oregon-based R2C Group, has some thoughts on what’s got to give. “A recession can be good for marketers and agencies that are equipped to take advantage of opportunities,” claims O’Leary, who has led the nation’s largest independently-owned direct response advertising agency to rapid growth and more than $420 million in annual billings.

While many marketers are finding it harder and harder to measure the “success” of their dollars spent, and many of them using tired, traditional strategies, O’Leary and company are succeeding with a form of marketing that can be measured: integrated direct response advertising. O’Leary scoffs at how many big agencies continue to reinvent themselves creatively, without delivering bottom line results to their clients: “Publicly traded advertising agencies just don’t have their clients’ best interests at heart anymore.”

Advertising dollars are moving away from traditional strategies

According to Fitch Ratings, “The trend that will continue to affect the media universe…is the ongoing shift in advertising dollars from traditional media into non-traditional media…and ad spending continues to follow consumer patterns.” Focused on their client’s bottom line, R2C Group has experienced exponential growth over the past three years, thanks to a steady diet of big brand, Fortune 500 clients flocking to R2C Group for their unique and untraditional, results-driven approach.

R2C Group has rapidly evolved from a small direct response agency to an industry-leading, full-service advertising agency. The company’s recent acquisition of Chautauqua Communications, a San Francisco-based firm specializing in digital, interactive and online direct response solutions, further expands its service offering by adding online creative and digital media buying expertise to its integrated direct response offerings. These new capabilities are the perfect compliment, allowing R2C Group to directly connect direct response television campaigns to their client’s online and interactive strategies, with highly trackable results. R2C Group consists of: Respond2, the nation’s leading independently owned direct response creative agency, and Cmedia, an industry-leading media planning, research and buying agency.

Creative agency Respond2 became virtually married to its sister company, Cmedia, in 1999 when respective owners, Tim O’Leary and Michelle Cardinal, tied the knot themselves. Cardinal, president and co-founder of R2C Group, led Cmedia to explosive growth over the past 10 years, ranking Cmedia as the largest women-owned company and one of the largest privately held companies in the State of Oregon by the Portland Business Journal’s Book of Lists. Profiled in Inc. Magazine as one of the nation’s “Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs,” Cardinal is widely considered among peers and industry insiders as a pioneer in her field.

Fortune 500 companies are flocking toward results-driven approach

From newer, emerging brands to Fortune 500 companies, R2C Group’s clients have one thing in common; they are all dependent on generating profitable ROI from their advertising. O’Leary enjoys challenging the status quo, comparing his agency to what he refers to as “old school, old media, traditional brand agencies.” He asserts, “Unlike traditional brand agencies, R2C Group practices what it preaches: capturing, captivating and converting sales across all channels. We don’t just get results — we build brands by creating trackable, measurable, ongoing relationships with each and every customer.”

Is there a difference between the super-agencies’ big-budget campaigns and the R2C Group’s hybrid direct response/branded strategy? Cardinal says Yes. “R2C Group’s work is completely measurable and accountable. In fact, we’re the only agency on the planet that can directly correlate a television ad campaign with a client’s online and interactive strategies with equally measurable results. Many of our big brand clients are using direct response television campaigns not only to grow direct and online sales, but also to bolster their retails efforts too.” R2C’s portfolio of success among well known big brands is growing rapidly, and includes the likes of Google General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, Microsoft, Phillips, Merck, The Home Depot, Adobe, eBay, Vonage, Sprint, Chase, Blockbuster, Bare Minerals, KitchenAid and many more.

This newly-integrated direct response pioneer wants the world to know who they are and why they’re succeeding for their clients… and more importantly, why in the midst of a tumultuous economy, you should care.

R2C Group is a full-service advertising agency, specializing in direct response solutions, including direct response television (DRTV), online and interactive advertising, and complete media strategies. For more information on R2C Group, explore their new website at: www.r2cgroup.com.

August 6, 2008 – ATLANTA — EyeWonder, Inc., a leading innovator in Interactive Digital Advertising technologies and services, today announced the launch of its AdWonder 9.3 Flash Component, the latest version of its video and rich media advertising authoring tool. AdWonder was originally introduced in November 2006 and revolutionized the creative and production process for agencies building and deploying in-page online rich media and video ad campaigns. This new 9.3 upgrade also includes authoring capabilities for EyeWonder’s next generation of interactive in-stream ad campaigns, enabling agencies and advertisers to centralize their production of the most compelling and effective in-page and in-stream rich media and video ad campaigns through one platform.

“Our AdWonder 9.3 Component marks another huge leap forward for agencies and advertisers looking to utilize industry-leading interactive features, video, and audio into the in-stream ad environment,” said Ricky McClellen, CIO of EyeWonder. “With AdWonder 9.3, advertisers can now not only repurpose their traditional TV spot into a pre-roll ad campaign, but they can now create interactive, engaging in-stream ad experiences that engage and encourage audiences to interact and spend more time with the advertiser’s brand – all with one easy-to-use authoring tool.”

AdWonder 9.3 gives agency creative personnel the power to design, build, preview, test and approve any EyeWonder in-page or in-stream ad unit without ever leaving the Adobe® Flash® Professional CS3 authoring environment – drastically reducing the time needed to deliver traffic-ready video and rich media ads, while also dramatically improving the level of creativity. Flash Professional is currently the preferred authoring tool of the world’s agencies and advertisers, and the Adobe Flash Player runtime reaches more than 98 percent of today’s Internet–connected PCs and more than 500 million mobile devices and handsets worldwide.

“Enhancing customer options with more video and interactivity is a primary focus for Adobe. EyeWonder’s newest AdWonder Component furthers this mission for agencies building interactive ads using Adobe Flash CS3 Professional,” said Jennifer Taylor, director of product management, Flash creation and distribution at Adobe. “By providing the advertising community a platform for creating today’s most interactive in-page and in-stream ad campaigns, EyeWonder shares our goal of making it easy to rapidly develop and easily deliver the richest interactive content to the widest possible audience.”

AdWonder now makes it easy for agencies to repurpose creative and media assets and functionality directly from in-page ads rich media into in-stream ads. EyeWonder interactive features like Send to a Friend, Tabbed Panels, Multiple Videos, Mobile Reminders, Downloads and more can now be integrated directly into in-stream ads, encouraging users to explore them further, resulting in measurably higher interaction rates and time spent than current in-stream options.

With this 9.3 release, creative directors, media planners, agencies and publishers will now benefit from:
• Full interactive in-stream rich media and video ad authoring and support (including templates)
• New customizable user interface to best suit individual creative needs
• Improved work-flow management featuring campaign-based asset management
• Improved scalability and efficiency due to enhanced upload functionality
• New and improved templates for widget creation
• New staging environment for synched RoadBlock ad units, including a unique debug window
• New operating system-specific APIs to reduce system complexity and improve communications
• Consolidated reporting for all in-page rich media and in-stream placements – ability for clients to compare and optimize campaigns across both types of placement

Some of the key features retained from the previous version of AdWonder include:
• Full support for both Mac and PC users
• Full in-page rich media and video ad authoring and support (including over 50 built-in templates)
• Compatible with all versions of ActionScript
• Efficient demo creation which enables users to create and modify demos without affecting the published ads

AdWonder 9.3 supports agencies and designers using Adobe Flash Professional CS3, and delivers enhanced creative capabilities, greater audience reach and improved workflow efficiencies than many competitive platforms. AdWonder is already the choice of eight of the top ten agencies in the U.S. and is leveraged by more than 500 agencies worldwide.

About EyeWonder
EyeWonder, Inc. is the pioneering Interactive Digital Advertising provider that extends the reach of online rich media and interactive video ads to any interactive, digital device displays. Through its renowned technology, products and services, the company empowers advertisers, advertising agencies, and content publishers to centrally create, deliver, manage and optimize all of their interactive digital ad campaigns. EyeWonder’s unique development process and campaign management platform enables the industry’s most comprehensive creative capabilities, resulting in digital advertising campaigns that are proven to drive the best results.
EyeWonder, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., continues to rapidly grow its business domestically and internationally in response to increasing worldwide demand for its innovative Interactive Digital Advertising solutions.
For more information on the company’s digital advertising solutions or its global office network, please visit http://www.eyewonder.com.

NEW YORK, NY (July 29, 2008)—To meet the need for standardization in the expanding digital video landscape, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced the release of a “Digital Video Ad Serving Template” (VAST), designed to standardize communication protocol between video players and servers.

VAST will allow companies to build digital video players and video ad servers that have the same interfaces and speak the same standard language. Publishers who use the standard will be able to plug into multiple third-party digital video ad servers and networks without additional development and therefore enable a powerful tool for improving yield.

This document:

- Defines a standard ad response for in-stream video
- Provides specifications that are compatible with any video player framework
- Includes guidance for most on-demand video players (i.e., Adobe’s Flash, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player and Real Player)
- Includes accommodations for linear video and interactive ads (e.g.“pre-roll”) as well as non-linear ads such as clickable overlays as described in the IAB Digital Ad Format Guidelines

“Digital video is one of the most exciting platforms to emerge within the interactive advertising ecosystem,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “VAST is a critical industry accomplishment because it lays out a much-needed mechanism for standardization in one of the hottest areas of interactive advertising.”

“VAST allows for standardized communication between ad servers and players which is essential as more and more marketers embrace digital video as a key element of their interactive media plans and publishers wish to maximize yield on their video inventory,” said Ari Paparo, Group Product Manager, Advertiser Products of Google.

The public comment period will last until September 10, 2008. The feedback will then be reviewed and the document will be finalized and publicly released.

To review the complete document, please go to: http://www.iab.net/vast

About the IAB’s Digital Video Committee:
The Digital Video Committee of the IAB is comprised of over 145 member companies actively engaged in the creation and execution of digital video advertising. One of the goals of the committee is to implement a comprehensive set of guidelines, measurement, and creative options for interactive video advertising. The committee works to educate marketers and agencies on the strength of digital video as a marketing vehicle. A full list of Committee member companies can be found at: http://www.iab.net/member_center/35088?iabid=a0330000000s0p4AAA

About the IAB:
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (www.iab.net) represents over 375 leading interactive companies that actively engage in and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the continuing growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research, and educates marketers, agencies, and media companies, as well as the wider business community, about the value of interactive advertising.