DONE UNVEILS ABRACAT

By: Staff reports DONE UNVEILS ABRACAT

Redesigned Site Dumps the 'Classified' Word



AdOne LLC relaunches ClassifiedWarehouse.com today as Abracat. 'The word 'classified'
has no resonance with consumers' when it comes to Web sites, AdOne President and CEO
Brendan M. Burns told E&P Online recently. 'We wanted to develop a national brand that
stands for 'getting things done locally.''



The New York-based company is emphasizing that its services comprise more than
classified listings on the Web. The new service is designed to fulfill consumers'
'to-do lists,' Burns said. Promotional materials for the new site promise that it can
do everything from help you find a job or new house, to find a new vet for your pet, to
securing a summerhouse rental. Each of the site's verticals (cars, jobs, homes, etc.)
will have more related consumer content.



'If I can get a consumer in to buy a car, then I can introduce him to our other verticals,'
Burns said. 'So my acquisition cost goes down.' And the site may be able to build itself as
a one-stop shop for online needs - a possible advantage over single-purpose verticals like
Monster.com or Realtor.com.



AdOne's newspaper partners have committed $100 million annually in promotion for the
service. Local newspaper Web sites will get localized versions of Abracat.



Burns is optimistic about the newspaper industry's prospects online. 'Our research suggests
there's no sense of locality on the Internet,' he said. 'It's a gross oversimplification to
say [newspapers have] lost the war. They never owned the national employment space, but they
owned the local employment space.'



And Burns thinks newspapers can still own that local space online, if they position
themselves as the 'digital solution for advertisers.'



Over 700 newspapers are partnered with AdOne, which is backed by Advance Publications, Belo,

Donrey Media Group, The E.W. Scripps Co., The Hearst Corp., Journal Register Co., Lee
Enterprises, Media General, MediaNews Group, Morris Communications Corp., and Pulitzer Inc.