Business Wire and Newsforce Announce Strategic Partnership to Provide Suite of Press Release SEO Tools

Business Wire and Newsforce Announce Strategic Partnership to Provide Suite of Press Release SEO Tools

With Newsforce's SEO software, Business Wire launches the first phase of its SEO solution: a keyword research tool, press release SEO tool, link building tool, and news search engine ranking report.

New York, NY — August 7, 2006 — Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, and Newsforce, a developer of news search engine optimization (SEO) software, today announced a strategic partnership to provide Newsforce's integrated suite of news release SEO tools to Business Wire members. Newsforce's SEO software suite combines a keyword research tool, press release SEO tool, link building tool, and news search engine ranking report with Business Wire's news release distribution and NewsTrak internet traffic report.

A partnership between Business Wire and Newsforce will offer phase one of a "real solution" for maximizing press release online visibility, Cathy Baron Tamraz, president and CEO of Business Wire said.

"We studied the issue for months and chose to get this first phase right, rather than right away," said Tamraz. "A lot of smoke and mirrors have surfaced in recent months in the competitive industry. Our approach is to introduce a suite of solid SEO solutions that our members will find effective and that have a measurable ROI." said Tamraz.

"We are excited about working with Newsforce, the developer of a powerful set of press release SEO tools. Together, we can help public relations agencies and corporate communication departments get high keyword ranking in Google News and Yahoo! News, generate more publicity in news media and blogs, build brand awareness, increase Internet traffic, improve lead generation, boost online sales, and measure marketing ROI. This is just a first step as we plan to shape the future of SEO and leapfrog all other players in the arena," Tamraz added.

Jamie O'Donnell, CEO of Newsforce, said, "Business Wire is the leading news release distribution service, so undoubetly we're thrilled to be helping their customers. Our press release SEO tools can leverage their Internet-based news distribution platform which reaches Yahoo! News, Google News, AOL News, Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance, and AOL Money & Finance; as well as market-moving news services, financial information providers, databases, online services, Web portals, and media covering more than 150 industries."

Business Wire NewsTrak also provides a full suite of measurement and monitoring services, including internet traffic reports from news search engines and select third-party sites that offer BusinessWire.com-hosted news. In addition, Business Wire's Smart News Release enables customers to add photos and multimedia, with posting to Yahoo! Finance and other key systems.

About Press Release SEO
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 50 million Americans get their news online on the typical day. Many use Yahoo! News, Google News, and other news search engines to find the latest information about a wide range of topics that interest them. In fact, Hitwise reports that Yahoo! News and Google News rival other news and media Web sites, such as CNN.com, MSNBC.com, USAToday.com and NYTimes.com, in market share.

When people conduct a news search, they often find recent and relevant press releases along with articles from thousands of other news sources. According to a recent report from Outsell, press releases have surpassed trade publications to become the top news source for knowledge workers.

In addition to reaching the public, news search engines also reach the media. According to Bennett & Company's 15th Annual Media Survey, online research remains the number one source for journalists to obtain additional story information, with 75% of the respondents indicating they search the Internet for previous stories on their subject.

This is why MarketingSherpa has called press release optimization one of the top trends to watch in 2006. The Newsforce press release SEO tools were developed to accelerate this trend. For more information, go to http://www.newsforce.com/.

About Business Wire
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, was founded in 1961 by chairman Lorry I. Lokey, veteran journalist and public relations executive. Cathy Baron Tamraz is president and CEO.

The company's multi-channel delivery network, with access to some 60 international and national news agencies, financial information providers and Web-based news services throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, provides real-time, simultaneous access to key audiences – the news media, trade publications, institutional and individual investors, business-to-business decision-makers and consumers.

Business Wire electronically disseminates some 1,000 full-text news releases daily to the media, the Internet, online services and databases, and the global investment community in 150 countries in 45 languages. Business Wire has 24 U.S. offices, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Tokyo and Sydney offices, and reciprocal offices throughout the world.

About Newsforce
Newsforce is a developer of news search engine optimization software and press release SEO tools. Its new SEO software suite combines a keyword research tool, press release SEO tool, link building tool, and news search engine ranking report.

Newsforce is a privately held company backed by three companies: SEO-PR, SiteLab International Inc., and Primero Systems. SEO-PR is a search engine optimization and public relations firm specializing in news search, blog search and vertical search. SiteLab is a full service interactive agency providing a broad suite of online marketing services in the Internet space. Primero Systems is a leading developer of commercial grade, Web-based digital marketing and other e-commerce technology solutions.

Newsforce is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Boston, New York, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

For more information, contact:
Michael Lissauer of Business Wire
212-752-9600 or Michael.lissauer@businesswire.com
Jamie O'Donnell of Newsforce
415-643-8947 or jodonnell@newsforce.com