SHOPLOCAL.COM™ UNVIELS EXPANDED CAPABILITIES FOR LOCAL SHOPPING
Local Businesses to Benefit from Optimized Navigation and Online Integration of Newspaper Advertisements

CHICAGO, May 6, 2005 -
ShopLocal.com, the nation's leading Web-to-Store shopping resource, has an updated look, improved usability, and a new feature that allows businesses to supplement their print advertisements with an online presence on the site's new Ad Marketplace. These enhancements now enable consumers to find products and search for local services even faster and more efficiently than before. They also give local businesses an expanded Web presence and added capability to target local shoppers.

"ShopLocal is the leading online resource for the millions of shoppers who use the Internet to gather information online but prefer to buy at a local store," said Brian Hand, chief executive officer of CrossMedia Services, ShopLocal's parent company. "By expanding our online offerings, ShopLocal shortens the distance between consumers and a larger base of local businesses, not just traditional retailers."

ShopLocal conducted extensive consumer research to gain feedback on the user experience of the Web site. Based on user research results, ShopLocal created a more consistent navigation, cleaner presentation, and streamlined category offerings. All of which will enable consumers to find products and services more effortlessly on ShopLocal.

ShopLocal's Ad Marketplace provides local businesses with increased marketing opportunities. They can now present the messages from their newspaper print advertising to a targeted online audience, allowing them to advertise their business, in addition to listing their sales items. Furthermore, local businesses can now expand their online presence to an increasing number of local online shoppers. This new feature is available to any variety of businesses, which includes, restaurants, home services, banking and financial services, medical and health services, and travel agencies, as well as traditional retailers.

The Ad Marketplace also benefits local consumers by providing them the previously unavailable ability to search for services from local businesses. For example, if a consumer searches for "pizza", search results will now come back for pizza from the local grocer and the local pizzeria. Visitors to ShopLocal are also able to search and browse traditional newspaper ads from local businesses in Ad Marketplace.

"Consumers want a single source for up-to-date local information before they go shopping," said Hand. "By updating our Web site and adding interactive capabilities to print ads, businesses are able to target their products and services more efficiently to local shoppers who are ready to make a purchase."

CrossMedia Services, Inc., the parent company of ShopLocal, is the industry expert on Web-to-store marketing and the leading provider of turnkey solutions for brick and mortar retailers, catalog retailers and industrial catalogers. CrossMedia Services' solutions transform printed promotions (such as sales circulars, catalogs, run-of-press ads, direct mail, etc.) into an interactive Web format, versioned on variables such as location or type of shopper. Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE:KRI), are partners in CrossMedia Services, Inc. and other joint ventures to provide consumers access to great online products such as CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com. For more information, contact Dave Hamel at (312) 616-5800.