SAN FRANCISCO & SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24,
2008--CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET) announced today with Yahoo!
Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a broad, three-year strategic partnership that
includes content, advertising, and search marketing components. This
partnership creates unparalleled value for users and marketers alike.
CNET, as the leader in technology media, provides category expertise
and trusted, engaging content destinations for consumers, while Yahoo!
brings scale and a broad advertising platform to increase revenue and
distribution for its partners.
Under the partnership:
-- CNET.com will become a major third-party provider of
technology content on Yahoo! Tech and Yahoo! News, which will
significantly add to its current offerings and ensure that
Yahoo! will continue to provide its audience with the best
news, reviews, and videos about technology and consumer
electronics;
-- CNET Networks will be able to sell ads against its own
audience on Yahoo! properties, giving its marketing partners
the ability to efficiently and effectively scale their
marketing programs across CNET Networks and the Yahoo!
network;
-- Yahoo! will be able to sell display advertising inventory
across CNET Networks' category defining brands, which will be
key components of Yahoo!'s publisher network; and
-- Yahoo!'s toolbar will be broadly distributed through a newly
constructed program at CNET Download.com, the world's largest
resource for safe, secure and trusted downloads.
"After evaluating several alternatives, we are extremely pleased
to engage with Yahoo! in this broad, long-term relationship. By
partnering with the world's largest portal, we're giving more people
access to CNET.com's award-winning content, and driving new revenue
streams into our business model," said Neil Ashe, chief executive
officer, CNET Networks. "Yahoo!'s position as the top Internet
property in the U.S., and the breadth of its advertising
relationships, complements our deep relationships with marketers in
key categories. Working together, we have the ability to build more
robust content environments and more comprehensive programs for our
marketing partners."
Content
CNET.com will provide technology content, including news, product
reviews and original video, to Yahoo! Tech and Yahoo! News. The
agreement significantly expands the technology content currently
available on Yahoo!, and will include hundreds of monthly news stories
from News.com, as well as hundreds of CNET.com product reviews.
Through this partnership, CNET.com extends the reach of its brand to
tens of millions of people on Yahoo!'s content sites in the U.S.
Advertising
Through this partnership, Yahoo! will provide its advertisers with
access to CNET Networks inventory across key brands, including BNET,
CNET.com, GameSpot, TV.com, and CHOW. With the use of Yahoo!'s
advanced behavioral targeting technology, Yahoo!'s marketers can
leverage the publishing channel to reach their customers within CNET
Networks' category-specific areas.
The partnership will also enable CNET Networks to provide its
advertisers with extended reach and frequency of messaging by
targeting CNET Networks' users while they are on the Yahoo! network.
Finally, CNET Networks will offer its marketers increased video reach
and scale as CNET Networks sells the advertising programs associated
with the technology video content that it provides to the Yahoo!
network.
"This announcement builds on our strategy to be the partner of
choice for leading Internet publishers looking to maximize their
revenue potential and audience engagement," said Todd Teresi, senior
vice president of the Yahoo! Publisher Channel. "The combination of
CNET Networks' leadership position in technology content, and Yahoo!'s
millions of users and high-quality advertisers seeking to reach
audiences interested in technology, will provide the most effective
opportunity to deliver targeted, relevant marketing messages to
highly-qualified mass audiences."
This partnership will enable Yahoo! to have the richest content
and advertising inventory available on the Internet in the technology
category, which will provide a "must buy" opportunity for advertisers
seeking relevant audiences at scale via an easy, end-to-end solution.
Toolbar
CNET Download.com is the most trusted resource on the Web for safe
and secure downloads. Each month, millions of people visit CNET
Download.com to choose from more than 60,000 free downloads, including
software, music, and games. CNET Download.com will work closely with
its independent software vendors (ISVs) to package and promote the
Yahoo! Toolbar, giving Yahoo!'s products exposure to millions more
consumers each month. Yahoo! Toolbar, which was the Web's first
downloadable toolbar and is currently available in more than 14
markets, helps users simplify their Web routines on and off Yahoo.com.
"Our goal is to offer users access to the most comprehensive and
relevant content on the Web. This partnership gives us the ability to
extend our reach with Yahoo! Toolbar and to make Yahoo! Search a
starting point for CNET Download.com's global community," said Vish
Makhijani, general manager and senior vice president, Yahoo! Search.
About CNET Networks
CNET Networks, Inc. is an interactive media company that builds
brands for people and the things they are passionate about, such as
gaming, music, entertainment, technology, business, food, and
parenting. The Company's leading brands include BNET, CNET, GameSpot,
TV.com, and CHOW. Founded in 1992, CNET Networks has a strong presence
in the US, Asia, and Europe.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most
trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on
powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and
developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust.
Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s strategic
partnership with CNET Networks, Inc. (including without limitation the
statements contained in the quotations from management in this press
release), as well as Yahoo!'s strategic and operational plans. Actual
events or results may differ materially from those described in this
press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The
potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the
possibility that expected or planned implementations described may be
delayed, may not ultimately be implemented, or if implemented may not
be successful; and the anticipated benefits described to Yahoo! may
not be achieved. More information about potential factors that could
affect Company's business and financial results is included under the
captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in Yahoo!'s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 which
is on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov.
CONTACT: CNET Networks, Inc.
Sarah Cain, 415-344-2218
sarah.cain@cnet.com
or
Yahoo! Inc.
Emily Fox, 408-349-8150
emilyf@yahoo-inc.com
SOURCE: CNET Networks, Inc.