JupiterResearch Projects Vertical Search Will Drive Industry Growth, w

    Business Editors/Internet Writers

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2005--JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM), today projected in its newly released report, "Vertical Search: Early Marketers Will Reap Rewards of Low Pricing," that the search industry will develop in much the same way historical media markets before it have, with the broad-based search engines spawning a raft of vertical search engines dedicated to specific categories.
    "Broad-based search engines are extremely good at navigating vast amounts of information, but extremely poor at helping a consumer make a purchase decision," said Niki Scevak, analyst with JupiterResearch. "This creates a large opportunity to enhance the consumer experience with vertical search," added Scevak.
    The report finds that paid search spending in the U.S. is highly concentrated. Just four categories - retail, financial services, media and entertainment and travel - accounted for 79% of the $2.6 billion spent on paid search in 2004. Each vertical provides a rich landscape of opportunity and a blueprint for how other categories will develop.
    In the search market overall, rapidly rising keyword prices on broad-based search engines will soon stabilize and industry growth will depend substantially on the incremental value provided by vertical search engines. "The trend will cause a sea change in how advertising spending is allocated online and force media firms in vertical categories to embrace performance-based advertising pricing models," said Scevak. "If vertically focused media firms do not seize this opportunity, search engines like Yahoo! and Google, as well as a number of established and startup vertical search engines like Shopping.com and Sidestep will enter to satisfy the market demand."
    The JupiterResearch report enumerates the top search marketing categories, analyzes the reasons why certain categories contribute disproportionate amounts of spending and recommends strategies for media firms, advertisers and their agencies to apply to vertical search initiatives.
    The complete findings of this report are immediately available to JupiterResearch clients online at www.jupiterresearch.com. For more information on the report or JupiterResearch's Online Search research service please contact Kieran Kelly, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Service at 1-800-481-1212 or researchsales@jupitermedia.com.

    About Jupitermedia Corporation

    Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM) (www.jupitermedia.com), headquartered in Darien, CT, is a leading global provider of original information, images, research and events for information technology, business and creative professionals. JupiterWeb, the online media division of Jupitermedia, operates five distinct online networks: internet.com and EarthWeb.com for IT and business professionals; DevX.com for developers; ClickZ.com for interactive marketers; and Graphics.com, for creative professionals. JupiterWeb properties include more than 150 Web sites and over 150 e-mail newsletters that are viewed by approximately 20 million users and generate over 300 million page views monthly. Jupitermedia also includes: JupiterImages, one of the leading images companies in the world with over 5.0 million images online serving creative professionals with products like Comstock Images, Thinkstock Images, Thinkstock Footage, Photos.com, HemeraImages.com, Ablestock.com, Clipart.com and Animations.com; JupiterResearch, a leading international research advisory organization specializing in business and technology market research in 18 business areas and 14 vertical markets; and JupiterEvents, which produces offline conferences and trade shows focused on IT and business-specific topics, including Search Engine Strategies and WiFi/VoWiFi Planet.

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    All current JupiterResearch press releases can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/press:releases/
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CONTACT: Jupitermedia Corporation Marketing and Public Relations: Lisa DiGiacomo, 212-547-7938 ldigiacomo@jupitermedia.com

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