Publishers Take Back Control of Their Ad Revenue with FAST AdMomentum



    With FAST AdMomentum, publishers now have a private-label contextual advertising platform, eliminating the need for third-party services

    New product was developed in consultation with publishers who are looking for a better way to monetize their content and serve their advertisers

    Fast Search & Transfer(TM) (OSEAX: FAST.OL) (FAST(TM)), a leading
    developer of search technologies, today unveiled FAST AdMomentum(TM),
    a private-label contextual advertising and monetization platform for
    online media companies, retailers and telecommunications service
    providers. FAST AdMomentum was developed in close cooperation with
    leading online publishers to meet the growing demand for a more
    profitable and flexible alternative to third-party contextual
    advertising services. FAST AdMomentum has already proven itself in
    trials and in production, and will be generally available later this
    quarter. FAST will spotlight AdMomentum later this week at
    FASTforward, its annual business and technology conference.

    "There's no question that search technology and performance
    advertising have dramatically transformed the world of publishing, but
    for many publishers the transformation has not paid off as well as it
    should," said John M. Lervik, CEO of FAST. "Publishers want to
    maintain control of their revenue, serving their advertisers and
    audiences more effectively, and this has been difficult to do with
    third-party platforms. With FAST AdMomentum, we give that control and
    independence back to publishers - enabling them for the first time to
    fully monetize their assets without having to share revenues or risk
    customer disintermediation."

    "Online ad revenue drives the digital economy, and no one has a
    lock on that revenue stream today," said Sue Feldman, IDC's Vice
    President for Search and Digital Marketplace Technologies. "Online
    advertising - particularly contextual advertising - continues to soar.
    IDC believes that large publishers and ad networks can seize a
    significant share of this revenue. FAST AdMomentum provides the
    infrastructure for publishers to manage and monetize their online
    content. It's a digital marketplace in a box."

    Publishers need a "revenue engine"

    This joint development with online publishers around the globe has
    resulted in a powerful solution that tightly aligns with the business
    and technological requirements of this sector. These early customers
    have responded enthusiastically to the platform's ability to provide a
    wide assortment of options for monetizing content on their sites and
    for creating their own ad networks.

    "Publishers know their content, their audiences and their
    advertisers' needs best - key insights necessary to compete in the
    online world," said Perry Solomon, VP and GM, Media Solutions at FAST.
    "But to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace, they need a
    revenue engine, not just a search engine. The R&D that FAST has
    committed toward the development of that revenue engine will pay off
    for publishers, growing their revenues and reversing the tide of ad
    dollars that are going to third-party services."

    "Contextual advertising continues to drive the advertising
    economy, and publishers everywhere are looking for ways to deliver
    more qualified leads to their advertisers," said Stephen Baker, CEO of
    Search at Reed Business. "As a long-time vendor and partner to media
    companies, FAST understands this need. We are pleased with the
    direction they are taking."

    Purpose-built for online publishers and directories

    FAST has tailored the development of the platform to meet the
    specific needs of online media companies, retailers and
    telecommunications service providers. Among other features, the
    platform offers customers the ability to sell locally and nationally,
    a self-service environment for their advertisers, and multiple ranking
    algorithms and innovative customer interfaces to better match the
    needs of both their audiences and advertisers.

    "To meet the needs of our customers, we have to meet the needs of
    their customers - the readers and advertisers that support their
    businesses," said Dylan Fuller, Senior Product Director at FAST.
    "There's a reason why contextual advertising has done so well with
    readers and advertisers, and now publishers will be able to make the
    experience even better. They know their customers better than anyone
    else, and with the right tools they can better serve them."

    About FAST

    FAST creates the real-time search and business intelligence
    solutions that are behind the scenes at the world's best- known
    companies with the most demanding information challenges. FAST's
    flexible and scalable integrated technology platform and personalized
    portal connects users, regardless of medium, to the relevant
    information they need.

    FAST is headquartered in Norway and is publicly traded under the
    ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The FAST Group
    operates globally with presence in Europe, the United States, Asia,
    Australia, the Americas, and the Middle East. For further information
    about FAST, please visit www.fastsearch.com.

    (C) 2007 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer,
    FAST, Adaptive Information Warehouse, AIW, AdMomentum, Impulse and
    Hubway are trademarks of Fast Search & Transfer ASA. The FAST logo,
    FAST ESP, FAST InStream, FAST InPerspective, FAST ProPublish, FAST
    Contextual Insight and FAST Unity are registered trademarks of Fast
    Search & Transfer ASA. All rights reserved.