Study Reveals New Online Advertising Strategies for Reaching In-Market Automotive Consumers

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA - November 6, 2007: ValueClick, Inc. today announced that its ValueClick Media division, in conjunction with interactive agency Goodway 2.0, has published the results of a multi-campaign study demonstrating new online advertising strategies for automotive marketers in a white paper entitled “Cost-Effectively Reaching the In-Market Auto Buyer.”

Available as a free download at www.valueclickmedia.com, the white paper provides strong evidence for looking beyond automotive information sites to other, complementary strategies for driving lead generation from the online channel. Based on multiple campaign studies, the paper proves that strong results to online automotive campaigns can be found by planning across a wide range of lifestyle sites and using optimization technology to identify optimal placement, rather than assuming what channels or individual sites are most likely to perform.

The paper analyzes the results of four regional automotive campaigns and one national campaign that ran on the ValueClick Media network between March and September of 2007 with various performance objectives such as printing a test-drive certificate, viewing a video or clicking out to an individual dealer site.

“The high cost, low inventory levels and heavy competitive presence associated with automotive plans requires our clients to seek alternative means of reaching consumers as they move through the automotive purchase funnel,” said Jay Friedman, president of Goodway 2.0. “As we thought, and what the research shows, is that every brand and model perform differently across different regions and local markets, and that using a broad reach vehicle like a network and letting optimization technology predict what sites are most likely to perform, drove meaningful, cost-effective performance.”

The multi-campaign study shows that campaigns run on a larger number of sites and optimized based on proven performance consistently outperformed those which were pre-targeted to network channels and individual sites commonly believed to be in-market auto buyer strongholds. By capitalizing on the extensive reach and optimization technology of an ad network, these auto marketers found campaign success without the third party automotive information sites. The cost of the alternate sites was also 70 to 90 percent less on a CPM basis.

“For marketers seeking an alternative to higher priced, inventory constrained automotive sites, this research demonstrates a clear alternative in ad networks,” said Matthew Boyd, senior vice president, ValueClick Media. “Furthermore, it shows that performance can be derived by capitalizing on the extensive reach, technology and expertise of large networks by casting a wide net and optimizing each campaign to the performance objectives of the client based on the actual observed performance.”

The paper cites data from J.D. Power and comScore Media Metrix to suggest that ad networks are a logical complement to third-party automotive information sites, since the overwhelming majority of consumers who visit them are not ready to buy, and those who are ready to buy spend less than one percent of their time online visiting those sites.

About Goodway 2.0

Goodway 2.0 is a division of the Goodway Group (www.goodwaygroup.com), a marketing and promotions company originally founded in 1929 by Milton Wolk. Milton’s Grandson, David Wolk, is now president and owner and formed Goodway 2.0 with Jay Friedman in 2006. Goodway 2.0 has quickly become a leader in the digital space, working with clients from major domestic and import automotive manufacturers to local and national political candidates. Each product in the Goodway 2.0 proprietary solutions suite – Niche Web™, DARCO™, Vernon™, Behavioral Learning™, RateJammer™, and Periscope™ - each offers a unique ability to target consumers online with increased efficiency and ROI. These products, coupled with extensive retail experience, allows Goodway 2.0 to bring custom solutions to clients who are looking for new ways to reach a digital audience

About ValueClick, Inc.

ValueClick, Inc. is one of the world’s largest online marketing services companies, offering comprehensive and scalable solutions to deliver cost-effective customer acquisition for advertisers and robust revenue streams for publishers. ValueClick’s performance-based solutions allow customers to reach their potential through multiple online marketing channels, including affiliate and search marketing, display advertising, lead generation, ad serving and email technology, and comparison shopping. ValueClick brands include Commission Junction, ValueClick Media, Mediaplex, PriceRunner and Smarter.com. For more information, please visit www.valueclick.com.