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Demand Media Acquires ExpertVillage.Com, Largest Provider of ``Made for the Internet'' Video Content

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 June 2007, 10:52 CDT

Demand Media, Inc., the next-generation social media company, today announced its acquisition of ExpertVillage.com, the premier Internet source for professional "how-to" videos filmed and produced by local filmmakers that feature experts on a broad range of topics. The acquisition significantly expands Demand Media's social media platform with a growing library of diverse video content to be distributed across its network of niche social media web properties and available for users to integrate into their Channelme.tv video sites.

Launched with video in 2006, ExpertVillage is a highly trafficked video portal for how-to information and the largest provider of "made for the Internet" video content. This content was created through ExpertVillage's proprietary process wherein filmmakers select specific how-to topics and produce videos on that subject matter. The filmmaker engages an expert on the selected topic and produces approximately 15 short how-to videos.

"Video is becoming the dominant and preferred way people seek information on the Internet. In many cases, pure textual information is not enough and users are seeking visual instructions to answer their questions," said Byron Reese, founder and CEO of ExpertVillage. "We focused our resources on the how-to video category because of its popularity and ease of monetization. As the newest member of the Demand Media family, we will more aggressively invest in the how-to area and expand into different content categories where our process and platform can be utilized."

Demand Media gains instant access to a marketplace of hundreds of motivated filmmakers who are eager to produce instructional videos through ExpertVillage's platform. All of ExpertVillage's videos feature skilled experts and are focused on six main categories: home & gardening, health & beauty, money & finance, sports, hobbies and travel.

"We intend on increasing the scale of ExpertVillage's existing business and expanding into new content areas," said Demand Media co-founder and CEO, Richard Rosenblatt. "While we have enhanced our media properties through textual, photographic and social media content, we were seeking a video solution that could be integrated into our platform. ExpertVillage's video solution and its network of filmmakers epitomize our approach to new media and our scale will provide their filmmakers with substantially more topics to develop. We are anxious to begin working together as one company."

About ExpertVillage.com

ExpertVillage is the largest producer of "made for the Internet" video content with over 17,000 short-format "how-to" videos that feature more than 1000 experts covering everything from Pilates to origami. Based in Austin, Texas, ExpertVillage launched its video offering in April 2006 with 1,300 short videos and has become the premier Internet source for professional "how-to" videos. For more information on ExpertVillage, visit: www.expertvillage.com.

About Demand Media, Inc.

Demand Media™ is a social media company that connects content creators and large audiences with advertisers through its network of vertical media web properties. By using its proprietary social media tools and the unique distribution platform of the world's second largest domain registrar, Demand Media provides an interactive, personalized and vertically-focused media experience for users. The privately held company was founded in May 2006 and is based in Santa Monica, CA, with offices in San Francisco and Seattle, WA. For more information about Demand Media, Inc., visit: http://www.demandmedia.com.

© 2007 Demand Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Demand Media is a trademark of Demand Media, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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