IRVINE, Calif., Jan 07, 2009 -- Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq:ABTL), a leading automotive marketing services company, today announced that the company's flagship site, MyRide.com, will power a new auto channel for Womensforum.com, one of the internet's leading women's communities which reaches more than 7 million moms, young professionals, and baby boomers each month. Dedicated to helping automotive consumers find, see, buy and learn anything related to automobiles, MyRide.com, a 2008 Webby Award Honoree(1) and 2008 Web Award Standard of Excellence(2) winner, will seamlessly integrate its content and vehicle purchase request system into the Womensforum.com site. Womensforum.com visitors will also have access to Autobytel's nationwide network of auto dealers. In addition, Womensforum.com will join the Company's growing AutoReach ad network, bringing the network's publisher total to 16 (and 29 websites), and offering new opportunities for AutoReach's advertisers to target a key demographic.
"We are very pleased to expand Autobytel's audience by bringing MyRide.com's rich automotive content and consumer-friendly car shopping process to this under-served - and extremely powerful - demographic, while at the same time generating increased opportunities for Womensforum.com to leverage the power of its audience," said Autobytel President and CEO Jeffrey Coats. "Not only do women influence over 80% of all car purchases, but their purchasing power is expected to rise to over $14 trillion in 2010.(3) With the addition of Womensforum.com - a leading online community for women - as a co-brand partner and publisher on our expanding AutoReach Ad Network, we can provide our advertisers with new access to millions of these powerful consumers."
Womensforum.com is a leading destination for women online and was the first network of independently owned sites for women. Since 1996, Womensforum.com has been a leader in bringing together quality women's lifestyle sites and creating one of the most sought after audiences for advertisers seeking to target female consumers online. Womensforum.com's unique market position as a network of real sites created by real women has been the cornerstone of the company's success and has proven to be an ideal vehicle for the world's leading consumer, packaged goods, and other top-tier sponsors.
"Autobytel pioneered comprehensive user-friendly online automotive content and car purchasing and we are very pleased to join with them in creating this new auto channel specifically targeted to women," said Jodi Beck, President of Womensforum.com, Inc. "With this new channel, as well as through our participation in Autobytel's AutoReach Ad Network, we look forward to creating new revenue opportunities as well as providing comprehensive auto content, tools, and resources to our users.
Womensforum.com is one of several publishers recently added to AutoReach, which includes The Enthusiast Network (TEN), TheTruthAboutCars.com, ClassicCars.com, RightAutos.com, Vast.com, Automobile.com, LeaseCompare.com, DirectoryM, and AutoMall.com. According to Coats, AutoReach's mission is to provide important online publishers with on-target, high-value advertising campaigns, while also providing automaker and automotive-related advertisers with added inventory to target more in-market automotive consumers, more efficiently.
About Autobytel Inc.
Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq:ABTL) is an Internet automotive marketing services company that helps dealers and manufacturers sell cars and related products and services. The company owns and operates consumer-facing automotive websites, including its flagship site, MyRide.com(R), which is designed to help consumers find, see, buy and learn anything related to automobiles. The company's other websites are: Autobytel.com(R), Autoweb.com(R), Car.comsm, CarSmart.com(R), AutoSite.com(R), and CarTV.com(R). By providing a convenient and comprehensive automotive consumer experience across the purchase and ownership lifecycle, Autobytel seeks to provide dealerships with opportunities to connect with a steady, diverse stream of motivated, serious shoppers, while providing manufacturers with precision-targeted brand and product advertising opportunities. In addition to its websites, the company generates leads and advertising opportunities for dealers and automakers through its marketing network, which includes the AutoReach ad network, co-brands, such as ESPN.com, and marketing affiliates such as AOL, Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book.
(1) In 2008, Autobytel's MyRide.com received Official Honoree distinction for the 12th Annual Webby Awards
(2) Autobytel's MyRide.com received the Automobile Standard of Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Website Development from the 2008 Web Awards
(3) Fara Warner's "The Power of the Purse," as cited in the Los Angeles Times, August 2007