LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/04/08 -- Marketwire, a full-service newswire and communications workflow solutions provider, today introduces Social Media 2.0, the industry's most authentic and comprehensive social media newswire product. Social Media 2.0 advances today's press release format, offers public relations professionals a multitude of content options, and distributes news in a variety of mediums to distribution channels beyond traditional media distribution networks. Social Media 2.0 offers increased social network visibility to a prospective audience of more than 200 million Internet users, emphasizing Marketwire's commitment to facilitating its clients' communication efforts by providing the most innovative products and services and the best distribution options.

News Facts

--  Social Media 2.0 transforms a press release into an authentic social
    media tool by enabling two-way conversation via an in-release comment
    box that feeds directly into a client-monitored online newsroom.

--  Social Media 2.0 provides automatic news availability inside
    hard-to-reach social networks such as iTunes®, Photobucket®,
    YouTube(TM) and Twitter. In addition, Social Media 2.0 boasts the
    largest Second Life® news channel distribution of any newswire.

--  Exclusive features include:
         -  Comment box and online newsroom
         -  In-release performance statistics on search engine cataloging
         -  Distribution to YouTube, iTunes, Second Life, Pheedo(TM),
            Photobucket and Twitter
         -  Facebook® tags
         -  Custom RSS feeds
         -  Trackbacks for easy monitoring of online performance
         -  Search engine, Technorati(TM) and Digg(TM) results
         -  Embedded 500-character audio summary headline
         -  Distribution to more than 1,200 in-network geographically
            targeted websites

--  Additional Social Media 2.0 features include:
         -  Newsroom integration
         -  50 social tagging options
         -  Multiple social video and photo hosting options
         -  Permalinks
         -  Keyword cloud navigation
         -  Downstream distribution to more than 1,000 websites and online
            news destinations

Marketwire clients can easily select Social Media 2.0 as a distribution option when uploading their press releases on the Marketwire site.

Resources

To view an example of a Social Media 2.0 press release, click here.

Paolina Milana, Marketwire vice president of marketing, speaks out about the future of the press release at a January 30, 2008 Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) teleseminar. Click here to listen.

Thom Brodeur, Marketwire senior vice president, global strategy & development, discusses Social Media 2.0. Click here to view.

Quotes Attributable to Kevin Dill, social and multimedia product manager, Marketwire

(Click here for Kevin Dill's LinkedIn profile)

--  "With the explosion of Web 2.0 technology and website socialization,
    the newswire industry is continuously faced with new challenges.
    Communications professionals must look beyond traditional distribution
    channels to reach a large portion of today's audiences."

--  "The social media release is an invitation for dialogue based on
    social media elements. Marketwire's Social Media 2.0 expands upon that
    idea, taking that dialogue to the next level by allowing conversation to be
    initiated at the press release level."

--  "The social media release takes news distribution beyond the
    traditional press release, reaching target audiences through the specific
    channels and formats in which they prefer to receive news."

--  "Social Media 2.0 provides Marketwire clients with increased Internet
    visibility and greater search engine performance for their news, the most
    social bookmarking and tagging options available, and more social video and
    photo provider choices, reinforcing Marketwire's position as a leader in
    social media innovation."
    

Quote Attributable to Todd Defren, principal, SHIFT Communications

(Click here for Todd Defren's LinkedIn profile)

--  "The democratization of news is the singular principle behind the
    Social Media News Release. By allowing anyone to access, re-purpose and
    engage directly with a newsmaker's content, the SMNR empowers conversations
    between a company and its diverse user communities."
    

Social Media 2.0 Elements

--  Newsroom Integration: In-release comment box and online newsroom invite
    two-way conversation.

--  Audio Summary Headline: An embedded 500-character audio summary rolls
    into a category podcast made freely available via the Apple iTunes
    portal.

--  Social Bookmarks and Tags: Nearly 50 social media tagging options
    include heavily visited sites such as Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit(TM),
    Newsvine®, Furl, Google(TM), My Yahoo!®, Facebook®, Technorati
    and Netscape®.

--  Multimedia: Embedded videos gain additional exposure on YouTube;
    embedded photos, on Photobucket.

--  In-release Performance Stats:
         -  Display the number of real-time Digg and Technorati postings.
         -  Show the number of times the release is posted on Google,
            Windows Live and Yahoo!

--  User-friendly Options:

         -  Customized RSS feed - An in-release RSS link makes it easy for
            people to monitor all Marketwire-distributed press releases on
            the issuing organization.

         -  Permalinks - User-friendly URLs make it easy for people to
            refer to releases and copy or bookmark them.

         -  Trackbacks - Applying a technique commonly used between blogs
            (called "pings"), news distributors are notified when someone
            has linked to their press releases.

         -  Email-to-a-friend and printer-friendly version links are
            incorporated into every release.

--  Keyword Cloud Navigation: Relevant keywords are bundled together for
    improved site navigation.

--  Website Thumbnail:  Creates visibility for the news-issuing
    organization. Thumbnail displays on Marketwire's downstream partner
    websites and links to the news-issuing organization's website.

--  SnapShots(TM): A keyword mouse-over pop-up that reveals dynamic
    information about the release and issuing organization such as
    current stock price.

For more information on all of Marketwire's communications and news distribution solutions, please call 800-774-9473 or click here.

About Marketwire

The only fully integrated North America-based global newswire, Marketwire, Inc. is a full-service partner to IR, PR and MarCom professionals seeking top-tier news distribution, media management, multimedia and monitoring solutions. Marketwire's customer-centric corporate philosophy focuses on being the best by infusing every aspect of its business with the following core attributes: precision, adaptability, innovation and simplicity.

Marketwire delivers its clients' news to the world's media and financial communities, fulfilling disclosure requirements in North America in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), and serving as Primary Information Provider (PIP) with the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA). With a reputation for technology leadership, Marketwire offers innovative products and services -- including Social Media, Search Engine Optimization, Dashboard Mobile Financial, News Dashboard coverage reports, exclusive access to networks such as the Canadian Press Wire Network, Easy IR and Easy PR workflow solutions, and more -- that help communication professionals maximize their effectiveness while ensuring accuracy and best practices. Having merged companies (Market Wire and CCNMatthews) in April 2006, and enjoying a combined history of 25 years of service, Marketwire is now majority-owned by OMERS Capital Partners, the private equity arm of one of Canada's largest pension funds. Marketwire distributes the majority of press releases issued by publicly traded companies in Canada and serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide through 17 offices on four continents. For more information, visit us at www.marketwire.com.

For additional information:
Paolina Milana
Marketwire
(310) 765-3250
pmilana@marketwire.com

Jamie Ernst
Brodeur
(210) 495-5757
jernst@brodeur.com