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Media General Features Things To Do and Local Promotions With Search Engine Zvents

Posted on: Thursday, 6 November 2008, 09:00 CST

Zvents, the local search engine and paid listings ad network, announced today that Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG), the leading provider of high-quality news, information and entertainment in the Southeast, has chosen Zvents to power its Things to Do local search platform for Media General's daily newspaper and television station Internet and mobile Web sites. This includes metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Winston-Salem Journal, 16 broadcast television stations throughout the region and more than 20 community daily newspapers. The Tampa Tribune and WFLA News Channel 8 are part of a converged market in Tampa launching Zvents on the Web portal, TBO.com.

With the announcement, the Zvents Media Platform becomes broadly accessible for unique online advertising opportunities targeted locally to reach dwellers and visitors in cities and towns in the Southeastern United States with timely information and ads specific to what's happening locally. A paid listings and self-service model enables local merchants to quickly and easily syndicate local events, sales and weekly specials, and business listings. Zvents equips local merchants and businesses with access to local targeting, which can multiply results made in advertising and sales investments while remaining consistent with their media buying patterns.

"With Zvents' local search technology, Media General Internet and mobile Web users can discover, contribute, and share thousands of local events and promotions in their communities," said Kirk Read, vice president of Media General and president of the Interactive Media Division. "We are especially excited that Zvents introduces new opportunities for our local businesses to advertise in highly targeted ways previously unavailable."

"In an uncertain economic environment, local businesses are seeking cost-effective ways to reach local consumers," said Ethan Stock, Zvents CEO and founder. "Through our partnership with Media General, we deliver a rich local search experience to users and an effective marketing channel to local businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi, as well as Ohio and Rhode Island."

Over 250 media partners in the Zvents network have adopted the Zvents Media Platform, which enables users to conduct local "what, when, where" searches for millions of events, restaurants, businesses, movies, performers, and other local activities in their areas natural language search queries. Media General users can review details of an event or venue, including date and time, ticket prices, promotions, descriptions, venue information, ratings, and mapped locations, as well as contribute their own content through reviews, comments, photos, and related links.

Media General joins pre-eminent media companies across the country that have adopted Zvents for print and online events listings and to engage in the power of local search that Zvents uniquely enables. Rich, detailed content and timely connections distinguish Zvents in both local search and local online advertising. Media General and other media leaders embrace Zvents as they seek to fulfill their goals to communicate timely information for the greatest impact locally.

ABOUT MEDIA GENERAL

Media General is a leading provider of local news, information and entertainment over multiple media platforms. The company serves markets primarily in the Southeastern United States. Media General publishes 24 daily newspapers, including The Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal; and community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; plus approximately 275 weekly newspapers and other targeted publications. The company owns and operates 19 network-affiliated television stations that reach approximately 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast and nearly 9 percent of those in the United States. The company's interactive media operations include Web sites and portals that are associated with each of its newspapers and television stations as well as with many specialty publications, and three growing interactive advertising services companies, Blockdot, Inc., DealTaker.com and NetInformer.

ABOUT ZVENTS

Zvents is a local search and advertising network of hundreds of web and mobile partners, featuring event listings to promote local business. Using unique search technology, which enables location- and time-based search for businesses and events, Zvents provides users with a compelling search and discovery experience, while enabling local merchants and advertisers to effectively promote their businesses. Zvents connects local businesses with millions of monthly users in diverse categories including music, movies, restaurants, sports, retail shopping, and community. The company aggregates rich business and event information from web sites, user-contributed content, and 3rd party sources, and integrates high-quality partner editorial content with its search index. The company is a leader in local search relevance and is the main sponsor of the open-source Hypertable project. For more information, visit www.Zvents.com.

 MEDIA CONTACT  Joy Wong Daniels Email Contact 650-288-0884  Gutenberg Communications Suzanne Matick Email Contact 831-479-1888  

SOURCE: Zvents

Source: MARKET WIRE

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