HarvestINFO Plays Key Role in Re-Launch of PalmBeachPost.com's Shopping Channel

HarvestINFO, the market leader in online advertising technology solutions for the newspaper industry, has created a premier local shopping channel for PalmBeachPost.com, which was recently showcased in an Online Publishing Update article, which follows.

Utilizing HarvestINFO's highly successful Marketplace 3.0, print display ads and classified listings are combined into one completely searchable individually itemized database. Shoppers can then search individual items by keyword or category from a selection of all ads, classified text ads, or ads from the newspaper.

By allowing shoppers to view item pages, product details, print the ads, email ads to friends, get store locations and driving directions, and link directly to the retailer's website, PalmBeachPost.com and HarvestINFO have created a site that has quickly become essential to local shoppers.

"Our partnership with HarvestINFO ensures that we offer the best local shopping experience, not Yahoo! or eBay," said Dan E. Shorter, Internet GM for the Palm Beach Post. "We encourage our visitors to find what they need online and then go see it, and touch it and buy it from a local business."

HarvestINFO's Marketplace 3.0 creates the ultimate online shopping experience for readers -- along with increased margin-attractive revenue opportunities -- regardless of market size -- by combining your display ads with your classified listings. HarvestINFO's Marketplace 3.0 solution has helped PalmBeachPost.com generate revenue from day one... while providing an improved online shopping experience for its customers.

Larry E. Shearer, VP Sales & Marketing at HarvestINFO, adds, "The Palm Beach Post stands out as one of the quintessential online local shopping marketplaces in the country. HarvestINFO is proud to have been instrumental in providing a customizable solution that enabled the Palm Beach Post to fully implement such a dynamic market presence."

Contact HarvestINFO at 513.701.3000 or customerservice@harvestinfo.com for information on turning your website into the Shopping Channel in your market!

About HarvestINFO

HarvestINFO was founded in 1996 and is located in Mason, Ohio. Today HarvestINFO serves over 400 newspapers worldwide, representing over 50 publishers. HarvestINFO provides newspapers with the #1 local/regional shopping solution for all advertisement types. To learn more about HarvestINFO, visit www.harvestinfo.com.

PalmBeachPost.com Shopping Channel Combines Display Ads, Classifieds

Visitors to PalmBeachPost.com's shopping section can now search more than 13,000 products and services following an August re-launch that combines print display ads and classified listings in one database. Shoppers can search by keyword or category from a selection of all ads, classified text ads or ads from the newspaper. The first search results page provides the name of the advertiser, a summary of the item, price and date the ad appeared. By clicking the summary, shoppers go to the item page, which includes the product image culled from the larger print ad, more product details, store mapping (if the retailer provides an address and ZIP code in the ad), the ability to print the ad, view the retailer's entire ad, e-mail the ad to a friend, and link to the retailer's Web site. PalmBeachPost.com designed the service as a way for shoppers to research products online and then makes the purchase at a local business.

Another recently launched online marketplace, CrossMedia Service's ShopLocal.com, also points consumers to retailers' brick-and-mortar stores. ShopLocal.com's database includes items from sales circulars and display ads, but not classified listings.

Advertisers can choose to pay an upsell fee (a small percentage increase over the cost of the print ad) for their ad to appear online for seven days. HarvestINFO provides the digitization and database technology, as well as a detailed daily manifest for ad managers and sales reps. "We're making money," says Dan Shorter, general manager of PalmBeachPost.com in West Palm Beach, Florida. "It's a profitable business from day one." The shopping channel commands the fourth-largest audience on the site behind news, sports and weather, he says.

Shorter wants the shopping database, which equally caters to small service providers on up to large retailers, to make his site "essential" to local consumers. Confronted by threats from craigslist, eBay, freecycle.org and other sites, newspapers need to develop their own shopping databases, he says. "This isn't a luxury," Shorter says. "This is something you've got to do."

Source: PalmBeachPost.com, OPU

http://www.palmbeachclassifieds.com/shopping/?track=tn

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