REDMOND, Wash., and NEW YORK, April 24, 2000 — Flooz.com Inc. (http://www.flooz.com/), The Online Gift Currency TM Web site, today announced the signing of a distribution agreement with Microsoft Corp. on the MSN TM network of Internet services, one of the top three Internet portal sites.
This agreement will establish Flooz.com as the preferred gift currency provider for the Hotmail® Web-based e-mail service, with a Gift Currency text link featured on the top of the Hotmail compose, reply and forward pages. By clicking on this link, subscribers to Hotmail will be directed to a cobranded Web site where they can send Flooz gift dollars to friends and family for everyday occasions such as birthdays, thank yous and congratulations. In addition, Flooz.com links will be available through MSN Search’s featured site listings, a short list of sites at the top of search results, while banners will run on the front page of MSN and Hotmail, the world’s largest e-mail service.
The Flooz.com and MSN Hotmail agreement is the latest step in the growing trend of e-mail and e-commerce convergence. Through this alliance, users of Hotmail, while communicating online, can now easily send a gift of Flooz at just the right moment.
“MSN has created an integrated distribution plan that enables Flooz.com to reach a wide range of consumers who are most likely to shop and purchase on the Internet,”
said Jed Savage, eastern regional sales manager for MSN.
“And since Flooz.com’s online gift currency is distributed through e-mail, its placement on MSN Hotmail is a natural fit.”
“Flooz.com is growing at an incredible rate. We’re gaining more top-tier online stores and service providers every day,”
said Robert Levitan, CEO of Flooz.com.
“Having a preferred link on Hotmail will enable Flooz.com to increase its presence on the Web and direct subscribers, who are already inclined to send a gift online, to our site. Plus the broad audience reach of MSN will help us build awareness and demonstrate what makes Flooz.com so unique — the ease and speed it gives people to send and receive gifts via e-mail.”
About Flooz.com
Flooz.com Inc. ( http://www.flooz.com/ ) has pioneered a unique method of gift-giving by combining e-mail and electronic greeting cards with an innovative
“stored value platform.”
Consumers send Flooz, The Online Gift Currency, to anyone with an e-mail address. Recipients then choose the store(s) where they would like to spend their Flooz. Just like money, Flooz is accepted as a branded form of payment on the checkout pages of more than 70 online stores, with more being added each week. Merchant partners include national brands, such as Starbucks, Tower Records and Godiva Chocolatier, as well as the most popular Internet brands, including Art.com, mothernature.com and Fogdog.com. Recipients get a Flooz account, which keeps track of their purchases and their remaining Flooz balance. Flooz.com is a free service for senders and recipients and utilizes an innovative business method and proprietary technology for which there is a patent pending.
About MSN
MSN Sales delivers customized advertising solutions for the Everyday Web. MSN is the network of Internet services from Microsoft that helps people better organize the Web around
what’s important to them. The network of MSN services, located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ , helps people easily stay in touch with friends and colleagues, make smart and secure purchasing decisions, and get more done. MSN offers award-winning e-mail functionality; personal communications services; wireless services information; customizable access to news; popular sites for health, personal finance, traveling, investing, automotive services, shopping and more; an online community; a Web search engine and directories; and top-rated Internet access.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, MSN and Hotmail are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Flooz and The Online Gift Currency are trademarks or registered trademarks of Flooz.com Inc.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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