OT March 1999
Online News Briefs
Newspapers join CarCast
Eight newspapers will utilize CarCast to create locally branded online automobile inventory and car buying services, PowerAdz.com announced in January.
The newspaper sites that will utilize the service include The Omaha (Neb.) World Herald, The Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening News and The Bergen Record newspapers in New Jersey, the Orange County (Calif.) Register and five other newspapers from the Freedom Communications Group.
The sites will now have online automobile presences, according to Kurt Lozier, vice president of strategic market programs for PowerAdz.com.
"CarCast offers newspapers the means to launch and sustain a competitive, cost-effective, online automobile buying service," he said.
The newspapers plan to market the new online auto services to both print and online readers, according to PowerAdz.com
The service also allows auto dealers to plug into the technology at their own Internet sites. Users can go to the participating paper sites to look for both new and used cars.
At each site, users will find local auto dealers, a full-featured electronic purchase request system, combined dealer inventory and co-branded content.
"This product is a major breakthrough for newspapers ready to extend their automotive advertising franchise online, " Lozier said.
PowerAdz.com offers community, classifieds and commerce infrastructure services for newspapers. It has more than 650 newspaper affiliates.
For more information call 518-286-2200 or visit www.poweradz.com. Participating newspaper affiliates can be found at www.carcast.com.
Seattletimes.com
The Seattletimes.com announced in January that it launched NWautospace (www.nwautospace.com). The new site is devoted to autos and other forms of transportation. It was developed to meet the needs of readers and advertisers by the newspaper's new media department.
It features private party and dealer listings from both The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Dealers can also have the option of placing their entire inventories online, including pictures, detailed descriptions and e-mail links. Private parties can submit ads through the Web site.
The classifieds are updated daily. Users can search the database of vehicles to find the car they want.
In addition to classifieds and inventories, the site features content in the form of reviews, consumer advice, Blue Book information, loan information and Washington State license and registration information.
The paper said the launching of the new site was part of its effort in cyberspace.
"The addition of nwautospace.com demonstrates our commitment and ability to compete in the interactive world," Times' executive editor Michael Fancher said.
Journal Register signs
Tribune Media Services has signed an agreement with the Journal Register Co. to provide weather data to the company's 24 newspapers.
In alliance with Weather Central and the Weather Channel, TMS will offer the group's newspapers customized electronic weather format and text information.
The Weather Channel plans to provide cross-promotional spots on the cable systems in each Journal Register Co. newspaper market.
Domain name options
Network Solutions, the company that assigns Internet names, will face competition by April, according to the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers. Previously, Network Solutions had an exclusive contract on assigning names with the U.S. government.
The new competition will come in the form of a handful of companies assigning the .com, .net, .org and other endings used on Web addresses.
According to ICANN, the details still need to be finalized, including the selection of the companies who will provide domain name registration.
PowerAdz 3D classifieds
PowerAdz.com announced the release of AdQuest3D to more than 600 newspaper affiliates in its online network. AdQuest3D integrates editorial content, yellow page listings and classified ads aggregated from newspapers across the country. The national database is available to Internet users through affiliate newspaper Web sites. The new program is designed to attract more local advertisers, extend users' stay and provide new revenue.
AdQuest3D's content, classifieds and business listings are generated dynamically and returned based on the consumer's category selection. This provides an advertiser the opportunity to differentiate its ad-buy and narrowly target its consumers.
In its first two weeks, the amount of time visitors spent on AdQuest3D sites increased by over 700 percent.
PowerAdz.com also recently announced an agreement to license yellow-page directory data from infoUSA. By early February, AdQuest3D will also include integrated, category-sensitive yellow page listings.
For more information call 518-286-2200 or visit www.poweradz.com.
AJC choose TIM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will utilize Internet advertising services from Thomson Interactive Media, the company announced in February. The paper will use the latest version of TIM's Classified IQ for its online classifieds.
The system offers such features as searching by specific areas, streaming video and multimedia. The Journal-Constitution has the option of using TIM's Encore and Directory Express products for listings and guides.
