Palm Beach Post Wins Newspaper Association of America Award for eStara-enabled “Talk to Seller” Service 

First Newspaper to Offer Click-to-Call Technology in Online Classified and Display Ads Honored with Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program

Reston, Va. (February 28, 2006) – eStara, the leading provider of multi-channel communications solutions that increase online revenue by linking buyers and sellers, today announced that the Palm Beach Post won the Newspaper Association of America’s Digital Edge Award for “Best Advertising Program, Circulation 100,000 to 249,999” for its eStara-enabled “Talk to Seller” classifieds and display ads.  The awards recognize publishers from newspapers of all sizes that engage online audiences with Web-enhanced news coverage and effectively deliver advertisers’ interactive marketing message.

Using eStara’s technology, the Palm Beach Post is the first newspaper to instantly connect online classifieds buyers with sellers over the phone by simply clicking on a Talk to Seller icon.  The service, which is used in more than 24,000 Palm Beach Post ads -- from shopping to other classified areas such as auto, real estate, and job listings -- generated more than 2,000 calls in January.  Advertisers answering calls that come from a Palm Beach Post click-to-call listing hear a message preceding each call that lets them know they are being connected to someone who is responding to a Post online advertisement. The Talk to Seller program is offered by the Palm Beach Post through four online newspapers, and is available in both English and Spanish.

“Offering our advertisers the Talk to Seller feature as a free service reinforces the value of the newspaper brand and helps us create the kind of immediate connection that leads to high customer conversion rates,” said Dan Shorter, Palm Beach Post’s General Manager. “The Talk to Seller program is mutually beneficial for both parties because advertisers enjoy more high-value leads while we have a unique offering to distinguish us from our competitors.”

The Digital Edge Awards, founded in 1996, were presented at a ceremony held during NAA’s annual Marketing Conference (with Classified & Connections®) held at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center, Feb. 19-22. This year’s winners were selected from 187 entries in 10 categories – Best Advertising Program, Best Local Shopping & Directory Strategy, Best Overall News Site, Most Innovative Multimeda Storytelling, Best Design and Site Architecture, Most Innovative Visitor Participation and Best Entertainment Site.

 “The Palm Beach Post’s Digital Edge Award represents a great validation of click-to-call technology for online classifieds,” said John Federman, CEO of eStara. 

The Kelsey Group predicts that the online classified advertising market will reach $3.71 billion by 2010.

“As the local search and classified market continues to grow, newspapers are adopting innovative technologies, like eStara’s click to call, that allow them to expand their online classified offerings to reach a wider customer base and remain competitive with the likes of Craigslist and Google.  Thanks to the Talk to Seller program, all classified and display advertisers in the Palm Beach area are able to utilize their click-to-call listing to compete for customers on a level playing field regardless of web presence, size or even language,” said Federman.

About eStara:

eStara (http://www.estara.com/) provides the world’s most robust and widely deployed “Click-to-Call” service, with more than three million users in 113 countries.  eStara’s IP telephony infrastructure seamlessly transitions consumers, together with the context of their online session, into immediate telephone or PC-based voice contact with the business.  The same patented base technology drives eStara’s Call Tracking, a flexible, scalable call tracking and monitoring service that supports pay-per-call and subscription revenue models with the largest inventory of local phone numbers in the industry.

Founded in 1999, eStara now serves over 350 global enterprises across many industries including directory and on-line publishing, financial services, travel and hospitality, and online retail.  Customers include Amazon.com’s A9.com, Apple Computer, Continental Airlines, DaimlerChrysler, Dell Financial Services, Hilton Hotels, ThomasNet, Verizon’s Superpages.com and Yahoo! UK & Ireland.