Loomia Releases Recommendations Web Service to Podcast Networks and Media Publishers

The Conversations Network Using Loomia Recommendations to Spotlight Popular Content

With over 900 individual podcasts, 10-12 new ones each week, and upwards of 20,000 downloads per day, it's easy to see why Doug Kaye, founder and executive producer of The Conversations Network, was named Podcasting Person of the Year at the Portable Media Conference in November 2005. But in putting together such a large volume of shows, he realized he created a problem for his growing community of listeners, namely how to find things they like within such a large catalog of shows. This complexity is why The Conversations Network turned to Loomia Recommendations.

Loomia Recommendations (http://recommendations.loomia.com) is a web service that lets podcast networks and media publishers provide personalized recommendations for the content on their sites. After a simple online sign-up process, the recommendations service can be integrated into sites within minutes, giving networks and publishers an instant ability to provide recommendations to site visitors that are specific to each user's interests. Loomia Recommendations is available for immediate use by any podcast network or media publisher syndicating media via RSS. The Conversations Network launched its new Web site with the Recommendation service on January 9, 2006.

"When we had only a few hundred shows and one channel, IT Conversations, it wasn't all that hard to browse the archives to find interesting shows to listen to," says The Conversations Network's Doug Kaye. "Now that we're approaching a thousand shows and adding more and more each week, we realized we needed a better way to help people find programs they like. The Loomia Recommendations service was very easy to integrate. Listeners will be more likely to return to our site for new programs and spend more time listening to shows within our ever expanding archive."

About Loomia Recommendations' Web Service

Loomia Recommendations creates a more intuitive discovery process, giving users an easier way to find things they like. The service also gives podcast networks and media publishers a clearer idea of the shows their audiences want. With this knowledge, networks and publishers can craft better programming and get more out of their sponsorship and advertising programs. Loomia Recommendations takes users' feedback on shows that they like or dislike and recommends podcasts and videocasts that match other people with similar tastes. Unlike other recommendation systems, Loomia Recommendations fits easily into any site that offers RSS feeds, greatly simplifying data exchange issues.

"We see a tremendous need for better distributed search and personalization," says David Marks, Co-founder and CEO of Loomia. "Many of the podcasting networks and media companies we've talked to want to make it easier for their listeners and viewers to find shows that interest them among the hundreds and thousands of items within their directories."

Loomia Recommendations is free of charge for networks and publishers. Loomia will make money by discretely featuring targeted and relevant podcasts and videocasts in the recommendation pages that it provides. Companies that do not wish to show ads can license the service on a per usage basis. Loomia plans to release other management and personalization services in the next several months.

"We created Loomia Recommendations because we think that a centralized aggregation approach is not the only answer to helping people find things that are relevant to them," says Marks. "Hundreds and thousands of networks will be creating millions of shows. Our goal is to provide emerging and established networks with easy-to-use and yet extremely powerful technologies to help them grow their audiences and build sustainable businesses."

More information about Loomia and Loomia Recommendations web service can be found at http://recommendations.loomia.com.

About Loomia

Loomia Inc. helps people discover and manage podcasts, videocasts, and other syndicated media. The company's website and its personalization web service, Loomia Recommendations, provides a unique set of search, recommendation, and personalization features to help users find the content they are looking for. Founded in 2004, Loomia is a privately held company based in San Francisco.

Loomia and Loomia Recommendations are trademarks of Loomia Inc. The Conversations Network and the CN logo are trademarks of The Conversations Network.

---

Distributed by Market Wire

   _   _