Sunnyvale, CA -- Oct. 27, 2004 -- Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - News), a leading global Internet company, today announced that its network has helped drive more than one million Americans to download voter registration forms in collaboration with Declare Yourself, a nonpartisan, nonprofit youth voting campaign founded by Norman Lear.
Yahoo! joined forces with Declare Yourself earlier this year as its premiere online partner to empower young Americans to get involved in the political process. Yahoo! leveraged its audience reach of millions of consumers as well as effective online marketing tools to direct potential young voters to comprehensive voter registration and election information sites at vote.yahoo.com and DeclareYourself.com.
"Achieving this significant milestone illustrates the power of the Yahoo! network in connecting our vast audience of consumers with causes they care about," said Terry Semel, chairman and CEO, Yahoo!. "Together with Declare Yourself, we set out to reverse declining voter registration levels among young people and we're very pleased that we enabled so many Americans to find their voice in the electoral process."
Yahoo! played a key role in energizing a new movement of young people through a variety of online public awareness tools. Contributions included:
* Hundreds of millions of "Register to Vote" banners throughout the Yahoo! network, targeting young adults and driving traffic to DeclareYourself.com.
* A total of five front-page placements throughout 2004, an unprecedented frequency for a nonprofit partner on Yahoo!'s highly coveted real estate.
* A special vote.yahoo.com microsite, providing users access to the latest election news, local polling place information, as well as electronic greetings to encourage their friends to vote.
* Viral tools through Yahoo! Messenger in the form of voter awareness t-shirts that can be worn by a user's customized avatar.
* A video challenge contest, inviting students from 18 colleges to declare the importance of voting, freedom, and the potential impact of the Internet on the elections this year.
* Participation in the "Break the Silence" online voter registration drive, kicked off with Christina Aguilera in Los Angeles on September 17th. It resulted in more than 100,000 downloaded registration forms in just the first week following the event, and another 400,000 through the final registration deadlines.
* Prominent links to vote.yahoo.com for all keyword search results related to voter registration. "Register to vote" was the most search term on the Yahoo! network on October 5th.
"Reaching our goal of 1 million downloaded voter registration forms could not have happened without Yahoo! as our premiere online partner," said Norman Lear, founder, Declare Yourself. "This is a testament to the power of the Internet to connect young people to this election through relevant information they want and need to actively participate in their democracy. Now, everyone needs to go to the polls on November 2 and vote."
Yahoo! is committed to making it easy, efficient and rewarding for consumers to make an impact in their respective communities. Through its vast network, Yahoo! is dedicated to helping best-of-breed local, national and international non-profit organizations build innovative and meaningful cause-related marketing programs.
Declare Yourself is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit program to energize and empower a new movement of young voters to participate in the 2004 election. By creatively fusing education, entertainment, information and technology, Declare Yourself is challenging Americans between the ages of 18 and 29, especially first-time voters, to vote. This nonprofit one-year voter initiative is the culmination of a three-year project, the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a 50-city cross-country tour of the Declaration of Independence and a multimedia exhibit on the contemporary relevance of our nation's birth certificate. Founded by Norman Lear, the DOI Road Trip and Declare Yourself are projects of Declaration of Independence, Inc., a public charity, and are made possible by AXA Financial, Inc., Proud Sponsor. National partners of Declare Yourself include Yahoo!, Premiere Online Partner and Clear Channel, Media and Entertainment Partner.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 world properties and is available in 13 languages.
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