Platform-A Offers Canadian Advertisers and Agencies a Full Suite of Marketing Solutions Powered by the Web’s Most Advanced Advertising Technologies

TORONTO – AOL announced the launch of Platform-A in Canada, offering advertisers access to one of the largest online advertising networks with the most comprehensive suite of marketing solutions and the Web’s best ad technologies. With this launch, Platform-A clients in Canada (http://www.platform-a.ca) now have a single point of contact to purchase and manage activity across Platform-A’s multiple digital marketing channels, improving the strategic impact of online campaigns.

Platform-A Canada aligns AOL’s existing Canadian advertising operations including: Advertising.com, one of Canada’s leading ad networks; and the AOL Canada media network, which includes AOL-owned properties and a number of third-party sites such as Canadian Driver, a leading online automotive magazine. This combination positions Platform-A’s ad network as the leader in Canada with an audience of 22.5 million unique visitors per month, reaching more than 93% of the online audience in Canada.*
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Partnership Leverages Vast Financial News Sites within AOL’s MediaGlow Publishing Business to Maximize Consumer Reach

Plan Includes Targeting AOL News for the First Time

NEW YORK – AOL’s Platform-A  announced a 2009 strategic partnership with Scottrade, a leading branch-supported online investment firm that offers a full line of investment products, online trading services and market research tools to help investors take control of their financial future. This year’s partnership extends Scottrade’s Platform-A relationship to reach consumers via advertising and distribution solutions within MediaGlow’s financial-related content properties, such as AOL Money & Finance, Walletpop.com, Bloggingstocks.com, and AOL News. As part of the deal, Scottrade has also been included as a Featured Broker on AOL Money & Finance.
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New Multi-Faceted Deal Expands to Include Multiple Digital Solutions

NEW YORK – AOL’s Platform-A announced a multi-faceted strategic relationship with FreeCreditReport.com®, the leading provider for online consumer credit reports, scores and monitoring. The partnership will fully leverage Platform-A’s diverse slate of advertising solutions, including deep customized content integration within AOL’s properties and a variety of broad-based campaigns across Platform-A’s networks, http://www.platform-a.com/, ensuring the ability to harness the full power of digital media advertising.

“Our new partnership with FreeCreditReport.com touches almost every advertising solution available at Platform-A. FreeCreditReport.com has given us a clear mandate – use all the tools at our disposal to help them reach a massive consumer base,” said Lynda Clarizio, President of Platform-A. “In the current economic climate, advertisers are looking for results and value. Platform-A can promise what no one else in the industry can deliver – a cost-effective way to ensure scale, targeting and measurement. We are thrilled to begin 2009 with the FreeCreditReport.com expansion and look forward to serving their needs in the coming year.”
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New Sales Promotion Lets Agencies and Brands Trial Idle Screen Mobile Advertising Risk-Free

MCLEAN, Va. – Mobile Posse, Inc., a leading provider of content and advertising delivery solutions for mobile, today announced the launch of an innovative sales promotion for agencies and brands looking to extend their advertising campaigns to mobile. Mobile Posse’s “Double-Digits Pledge” allows advertisers to trial idle screen advertising risk-free. Participating advertisers are guaranteed a minimum 10% click-through-rate (CTR) on campaigns delivered via the Mobile Posse platform. Advertising fees for ads that do not generate the promised consumer response will be fully refunded to the advertiser, no strings attached.

“In a tough economy, marketers need to make every marketing dollar count,” said Bill Jennings, Chief Revenue Officer of Mobile Posse. “We are pleased to be able to offer agencies and brands an economical and risk-free means to pilot idle screen mobile advertising campaigns.”
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Click-through rate increases 30% since the AOL.com relaunch; November total unique visitors and average daily visitors up 13%, and total minutes online grew by 29%; all figures signal higher advertiser returns moving into 2009

NEW YORK – AOL’s Platform-A announced that the new AOL.com homepage is delivering advertisers record performance on their homepage advertising and is also driving increased consumer reach and engagement. Since the homepage redesign was launched in September 2008, advertising click-through rates on the primary 300 x 250 ad banner rose 30%, according to internal metrics, a double-digit increase that shows consumers are increasingly clicking on AOL.com homepage advertising. In addition, the redesign is driving stronger consumer usage: total unique visitors and average daily visitors each are up 13%, and total minutes grew by 29%, compared to one year ago, according to the November 2008 comScore Media Metrix Report.
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Launched in September 2008, broad advertiser interest continues to grow for AOL’s new site targeted to women 18-34

NEW YORK – AOL’s Platform-A announced the launch of a holiday-themed branding program for Schick Wilkinson-Sword that will integrate into Lemondrop.com, AOL’s new lifestyle destination for women aged 18-34. Lemondrop, http://www.lemondrop.com, is an irreverent, conversational website with content ranging from pop culture to politics. Launched in September, the site attracted nearly 2.6 million unique visitors in October, according to comScore Media Metrix. Lemondrop.com is part of AOL Living, http://living.aol.com, one of the top three women’s sites with more than 16.4 million monthly unique visitors and 477 million monthly page views. The site is one of more than 20 launches over the past year that build upon AOL’s broad publishing initiative to create experiences targeted at specific audiences.
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In-stream video ads from Olay, TRESemme and Continental Airlines give viewers control over the advertising experience by featuring interactive product placements

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.
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First-of-Its-Kind Ad Buy Leverages Platform-A’s Unmatched Reach

NEW YORK – AOL’s Platform-A  announced that it launched, in partnership with T-Mobile USA, an unprecedented billion-impression Web advertising campaign across Platform-A during a two-day period on November 10 – 11. The first-of-its-kind advertising buy underscores Platform-A’s ability to reach more U.S. online consumers – more than 90% — than any other online advertising business. Platform-A includes AOL’s owned-and-operated sites, along with the thousands of sites in the Advertising.com third-party network.

Platform-A and T-Mobile collaborated to create the “T-Mobile Billion Block,” the most-expansive two-day ad buy in Platform-A history and will spotlight the T-Mobile G1 with Google, the first Android™-powered mobile phone. Over a two-day period, the T-Mobile G1 will dominate a significant amount of AOL and other Platform-A inventory, and it’s estimated that approximately 81.5 million consumers will be exposed to the exciting new phone over the campaign’s 48-hour run.
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