Cal Athletics and LookSmart Announce Web Search Partnership
LookSmart Search Results and Targeted Advertisements to Support Cal Athletics Through Innovative Collaboration
SAN FRANCISCO AND BERKELEY, Calif., Jun 3, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- LookSmart (Nasdaq: LOOK, ASX: LOK), a leader in search, and the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics today announced a groundbreaking partnership under which LookSmart will develop a branded web search property for Cal Athletics that will support the university's athletic programs while supplying highly relevant search results to Cal students and alumni.
Beginning this summer at CalBears.com, CalBearsSearch.com and via a toolbar application, CalBears Search(TM) will provide results powered by LookSmart's proprietary search technologies and 1.2 billion URL index. Each time users click on a paid listing, a portion of the revenue will go to support Cal Athletics. CalBears Search(TM) will also feature free access to LookSmart's full text article database.
"Cal becomes the first major university with its own branded search engine," said Steve Gladstone, director of athletics. "Students, alumni and Bear Backers will perform their web searches here, knowing the ad revenue that is generated will directly support our commitment to excellence and rise to national prominence."
Cal Athletics will promote CalBears Search to Cal's 20,000 faculty and staff and 165,000 alumni living in the Bay Area through an integrated radio, print and interactive marketing campaign. Solomon Fulp, director of corporate partnerships for Cal Athletics said the university selected LookSmart as its partner based on their flexibility, "LookSmart demonstrated the ability to develop a world-class, branded web search property that becomes a valuable asset both for the athletics department and the university."
Damian Smith, CEO of LookSmart, said the relationship would give advertisers a new source of high quality search traffic at a reasonable price. "UC Berkeley, its students, staff and alumni have been responsible for critical advances in Internet technology and are among the most knowledgeable and influential web users. We're honored to partner with Cal Athletics for this groundbreaking program."
About LookSmart
LookSmart is a leader in commercial search services and a developer of innovative web search solutions. The Company provides consumers with relevant search results through a distribution network that includes LookSmart.com and other top portals and ISPs, while delivering high performance sales leads at a reasonable price to online businesses. LookSmart is based in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit www.looksmart.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, such as references to the development of new properties and technologies, potential traffic growth, quality of traffic, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances. These statements, including their underlying assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Results may differ due to various factors such as the possibility that we may lack the personnel or expertise to develop the branded web search property or the toolbar, that the branded web search property or toolbar may not provide significant gains in proprietary traffic, or that we may incur unexpected technical challenges or expenses which prevent us from realizing gains from the branded web search property, toolbar, and the resulting traffic. In addition, you should read the risk factors detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The statements presented in this press release speak only as of the date of the release. Please note that we undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.
CONTACT:
Michele Large Bob Rose
KML Communications Cal Media Relations
206-441-0500 510-643-9036
KMLCommunications@Cablespeed.com bobrose@uclink.berkeley.edu
SOURCE LookSmart, Ltd.
Michele Large of KML Communications, +1-206-441-0500, or
KMLCommunications@Cablespeed.com, for LookSmart; or Bob Rose of Cal Media
Relations, +1-510-643-9036, or bobrose@uclink.berkeley.edu
http://www.CalBears.com
Copyright (C) 2004 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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