iSyndicate to Distribute Professional Content to GeoCities' 2.9 Million Members in New Partnership
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- iSyndicate, the Web's leading content syndication service, and GeoCities (Nasdaq: GCTY), the world's largest and fastest growing community of personal Web Sites on the Internet, announced today a new partnership to provide GeoCities' members a diverse offering of free, professionally developed content for consumer-built Web Sites. iSyndicate content will be available to GeoCities' members starting in early 1999.
The new strategic partnership means GeoCities will become the first community site on the Internet to offer headlines for top news; sports news; financial news; the day's top photographs; dozens of comic strips; weather forecasts for hundreds of cities; a diverse range of syndicated columns and other topics to its members for free.
"We have nearly three million active members who have self-published over 22 million pages of Internet content. Our new relationship with iSyndicate gives us the power to deliver to every GeoCities site content that will make the sites even more vibrant, up-to-date and interesting," said Thomas R. Evans, President and CEO of GeoCities. "We believe consumers' ability to integrate iSyndicate's content into a personal web page will attract new members to GeoCities and will help drive new traffic to our current Homesteader (member) sites."
With a few easy steps, GeoCities members will be able to place iSyndicate content on their pages, effectively meaning their pages will feature the same up-to-the-minute professional content seen on the many of the Web's leading news and information sites. The content can also be targeted to the specific interests of members. For example, a fan of the Green Bay Packers could offer Packers news on their pages or cigar connoisseurs could place Cigar Aficionado content on their pages.
"Our partnership with GeoCities represents iSyndicate's first content for communities application, and we are extremely excited to be a part of the 5th most heavily trafficked site on the Web," said Joel Maske, President & CEO of iSyndicate. "And as we continue to bolster our content offerings, we will remain committed to providing GeoCities members an invaluable long-term service."
iSyndicate content providers that will be available to GeoCities' members include the Associated Press for news and photography; Universal Press Syndicate for comic strips and columns; Reuters Online News (over 100 stories a day); Yahoo!; Net Events for live web-based events; Third Age News for news and features targeting older adults; United Media Features comics, including Dilbert and Peanuts, and a host of offerings in several categories: more than 30 sources for Business and Finance news, including theStreet.com, Stockpoint, Investment FAQ, Zack's, Bridge News, EDGAR Online, INTV, and Money Club; Sports news and information from 8 producers, including CBS SportsLine, AP MegaSports, and The Sports Network; 14 Technology content offerings, including ClickZ Network, CMPnet, CNET, COMLINE Business Data, Frost & Sullivan, The Industry Standard and Internet Wire; Entertainment news from 8 different providers, including Billboard Music News, Hollywood Online and Hollywood Stock Exchange; 13 Lifestyle features, including Astrology.net, Accuweather, Culinary.net, and The Black World Today; Travel offerings from Atlantic Unbound, Colombian Post and Colorado Life; and Real Estate content from 5 sources, including Eloan and Crime Check. Additional offerings will be made available to Geocities' Homesteaders from iSyndicate as its content partnerships continue to grow.
About iSyndicate (http://www.isyndicate.com)
iSyndicate is the leading content syndication service of the Web. Today the Company distributes content on behalf of over 100 media companies including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), CNET (Nasdaq: CNWK), Reuters NewMedia (Nasdaq: RTRSY), ZDNet (NYSE: ZD), CMPnet (Nasdaq: CMPX), The Associated Press, CBS Sportsline (Nasdaq: SPLN) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). iSyndicate delivers syndicated content to over 6,000 web sites, including Fidelity Investments, Infoseek (Nasdaq: SEEK), LinkExchange, Tektronix, Suretrade.com and San Francisco Gate. The Company is based in San Francisco and is backed by venture capital firms and individuals with significant media, Internet, and software industry experience.
About GeoCities (http://www.geocities.com)
Based in Marina Del Rey, Calif., with offices in London, New York and San Francisco, GeoCities (www.geocities.com) is the world's largest and fastest growing community of personal Web Sites on the Internet. 2.9 million GeoCities Homesteaders, members who have built personal Web Sites, have created an estimated 22 million pages of personalized content. In September 1998, the GeoCities site generated more than 1.4 billion page views according to Nielsen I/PRO, and in October 1998, the site attracted over 19.2 million unique visitors, according to Media Metrix. GeoCities was the fifth most trafficked Web Site on the Internet in October 1998, according to Media Metrix.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: the limited operating history and early development stage of GeoCities; its lack of profitability and anticipation of continued losses; the unpredictability and potential fluctuations in future revenues due to factors beyond GeoCities' control, including acceptance of the Web as an advertising medium, the level of traffic on GeoCities' Web Site, the uncertainty of revenues from e-commerce revenue-sharing relationships, and the possibility of future government regulation; the unproven nature of GeoCities' Web-based community business model; dependence on member-generated content; GeoCities' substantial reliance on advertising revenues; the limited experience of GeoCities' management in the Internet industry; dependence on key personnel; intense competition by other Web communities and businesses; integration and other risks associated with acquisitions; and other factors detailed in GeoCities' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its filing on Form S-1 and its most recent Form 10-Q.
SOURCE GeoCities
CO: GeoCities; iSyndicate
ST: California
IN: CPR MLM
SU: PDT
12/02/98 08:54 EST prnewswire.com |
