Cars.com Signs $10 Million Agreement with AltaVista
25 July 2000
Cars.com Signs $10 Million Agreement with AltaVista
CHICAGO, July 25 Cars.com, a leading automotive Web site,
announced today that it is the exclusive new and used car shopping service on
AltaVista, the premier knowledge resource on the Internet at
http://www.altavista.com, and a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc.
. The strategic alliance is a multi-year agreement valued at
$10 million for AltaVista.
As a result of the strategic alliance, visitors to AltaVista can enjoy
comprehensive automotive content on cars.com by accessing thousands of vehicle
listings, interacting with local dealers to submit and receive price quotes,
gathering valuable advice on vehicle purchasing and ownership and viewing
vehicle reviews from leading automotive journalists. AltaVista will promote
across its network a co-branded site featuring cars.com. More than 65 million
users visited AltaVista in June, according to company data.
"The alliance between cars.com and AltaVista brings together two leading
Internet resources for consumers to find the best automotive related
information on the Web," said Mitch Golub, general manager of cars.com. "With
so many information resources available, the alliance ensures that consumers
can rely on one credible source to get all of the automotive related
information they need to make a wise purchasing decision."
"Cars.com is one of the most complete and comprehensive automotive
resources online, and our alliance will enable AltaVista users to experience a
resource rich with automotive content," said Ross Levinsohn, vice president of
the AltaVista Network. "Showcasing cars.com demonstrates our commitment to
provide the best possible Internet experience for AltaVista users."
The agreement also enables AltaVista visitors to access the latest
features on cars.com. The newest feature is MyCarSite, a personalized Web
page specifically for car owners to record, organize and receive vehicle
information. Other new features include a "Sell Your Car" channel, which
allows individuals to place a classified ad for a used car directly on
cars.com. These new features enable cars.com and AltaVista to provide
consumers with automotive service and information during purchasing decisions
and throughout vehicle ownership.
About cars.com
Cars.com simplifies local new- and used-car shopping on the Internet.
Affiliated with more than 150 local newspapers, cars.com is the only
automotive Web site providing daily updates of dealer inventories that are
available in 26 of the top 30 markets in the United States. Cars.com allows
consumers to search vehicle listings by ZIP code, vehicle make, model and year
and to easily submit a quote request to a car dealer by e-mail, fax or
telephone. In addition to vehicle pricing, cars.com provides consumers with
trusted automotive information, which includes rich editorial content that
pertains to real-life issues, such as how to purchase a vehicle and tips for
parents of young drivers. The site also furnishes consumers with such tools
as an auto loan calculator, news and reports on new and used vehicles, as well
as more than 3,500 independent vehicle reviews (from 1983 to the present),
vehicle performance data and vehicle recall information. Cars.com is owned by
Classified Ventures Inc., which is based in Chicago.
About Classified Ventures
Classified Ventures creates nationally branded online marketplaces that
are the Internet's leading destination for buyers and sellers of cars
( cars.com ) and homes (HomeScape.com), and auctions (auctions.com). It also
owns Marketdrive Interactive, a leading developer of automotive eCRM software.
In addition to the national sites, CV's products are carried exclusively by
more than 130 local affiliate Web sites in 38 of the top 50 DMA markets.
About AltaVista
AltaVista Company is the premier knowledge resource on the Internet at
http://www.altavista.com . Building on its strong search heritage and patented
technology, AltaVista unlocks the vast Internet to provide the richest, most
relevant information access across multiple dimensions, including: Web pages,
shopping, up-to-the-minute news, live audio and video, and community
resources. AltaVista offers informative services including the multi-
dimensional AltaVista Search, pure Web page Raging Search (http://www.raging.com)
from AltaVista, AltaVista Shopping.com, AltaVista Live! personalized portal,
and AltaVista Free Internet Access. AltaVista is a majority-owned operating
company of CMGI, Inc. , Andover, Mass. AltaVista is
headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
AltaVista is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Shopping.com, Smart is Beautiful and AltaVista Free Access are trademarks of
AltaVista Company or its affiliates. Product names mentioned herein may be
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
This release contains forward-looking statements which address a variety
of subjects including, for example, the expected benefits resulting from the
agreement between AltaVista and cars.com and the expected benefits,
functionality and availability of the co-branded site featuring cars.com on
the AltaVista Network. The following important factors and uncertainties,
among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those
described in these forward-looking statements: AltaVista's products and
technologies may not successfully interoperate with those of cars.com; the
availability of the co-branded site featuring cars.com may be delayed due to
reasons beyond the control of AltaVista; the co-branded site depends on the
content, products and services of cars.com; AltaVista may experience
difficulties integrating technologies, operations and personnel of recent
acquisitions, AltaVista's growth depends upon continued and increased demand
for and market acceptance of AltaVista's web sites; and increased competition
and technological changes in the markets in which AltaVista competes. For a
detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to
CMGI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CMGI's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.