NewsGator News and Updates

Enterprise Social Computing: Got Architecture?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:42:47 GMT

NewsGator Whitepaper Tackles Bedrock Architectural Questions
Through the Prism of Business Benefits

DENVER, Nov. 20, 2008 — Enterprise social computing can deliver significant business value, but how you do it – the architecture – is critical to success.

NewsGator, a leader in the enterprise social computing market, tackles five key architecture considerations in a new whitepaper, “Architecting Enterprise Social Computing for Business Value.” These considerations are:

a) The individual – information about the user
b) Connections among individuals – this is the core “social” part
c) Content – the information created by and shared among users (from both internal and external sources)
d) Events – changes in any of the above
e) Privacy & security rules – controlling who can view content or participate in communities

“Social computing in an enterprise context has more complex architectural requirements than most consumer implementations,” says Brian Kellner, NewsGator’s VP of Products. “To truly reap the business value, enterprise social computing solutions must address these requirements in a way that leverages existing technology investments, extends them where necessary, and does not swamp the IT staff. It’s a challenge but one we have extensively addressed in this whitepaper. We think it will provide clarity and insight for a lot of enterprise architects.”

The whitepaper examines social computing architecture through the prism of strategic business objectives, including improved expertise discovery, knowledge-sharing, recruiting, on-boarding, retention, collaboration and innovation. It includes notes on NewsGator Social Sites, a Facebook for the enterprise application, to illustrate how social computing can be architected using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 as a foundation.

The free whitepaper is available on NewsGator’s website.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value
of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

Contact Information

Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com
www.newsgator.com

Karen Pantinas
Beaupre
603-559-5836
kpantinas(at)beaupre(dot)com
www.beaupre.com

Ten definitive strategies for Enterprise Social Networking success

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:48:23 GMT

Champions, incentives and familiar tools are key, says NewsGator

DENVER, Sept. 24, 2008 — Are you thinking of deploying something like Facebook as a business tool in your enterprise? Many companies are: Enterprise spending on Web 2.0 technologies will surge over the next five years to reach $4.6 billion globally, predicts Forrester Research. The following strategies will help ensure your initiative flourishes, says social computing company NewsGator in a white paper authored earlier this year.

1. Define acceptable use. Although the purpose of enterprise social networking is improving business performance, enjoyment is part of the calculus. How much “fun” is acceptable? Will non-work content be emphasized or discouraged? Set expectations in a few sentences and let everyone know up front.

2. Find a champion. The champion provides the push at the beginning of the project and discovers advocates who can establish momentum.

3. Select initial users. Going enterprise-wide from the gun usually doesn’t work for companies of more than a few thousand users. The ideal starting group contains plenty of workers who already share information. Consider younger workers, since millennials tend to be more open, willing to share, and familiar with social networking tools.

4. Understand users’ existing processes. Success is likely if you can make your enterprise social computing tools the easiest and most natural way to do the work that is already taking place. A discussion forum, for example, can replace a long and confusing email thread. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology provides a seamless way to share content without clutter, and to ensure your social network stays fresh and relevant.

5. Provide a feedback mechanism. For a social network to evolve, managers need to encourage and incorporate user feedback. When users see their good ideas adopted, they sense ownership and become power users.

6. Incent. In the long term, an effective social computing system is its own reward. Early on, however, employees will respond quickly to public recognition from the champion, scoring mechanisms that spotlight valued contributors, and, if appropriate, monetary compensation.

7. Integrate with current online destinations. Success chances skyrocket if users can participate from the environments where they already spend their time. For example, rather than build a social networking application from scratch, simply layer social computing features like networking, communities, discussions, tagging, social bookmarking and blogging on an existing portal or intranet. [NewsGator Social Sites software, for example, transforms any Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) implementation into a full-featured enterprise social network without altering user habits.]

8. Integrate with current processes. For example, one social networking site automatically builds time-tracking reports based on the user’s activities within the network, eliminating traditional busy work.

9. Provide the right modes of participation. Although some users may dive right into a new technology, some won’t. E-mail can actually be an effective way for some workers to participate if the solution is implemented well. Mobile devices provide essential participation options, too.

10. Design for minimum effort. Every extra click or decision is a chance for the user to quit. Social computing interfaces should make actions as simple and obvious as possible. To settle on the best design, review business goals and focus on the interactions that directly support them.

“Many companies know that enterprise social networking takes collaboration to a new level and fuels innovation, yet they need direction getting started,” said Karyn German, vice president of customer care at NewsGator. “These strategies are working for our customers and can be adapted to any organization for immediate impact.”

For more information on best practices, read NewsGator’s “Social Computing in the Enterprise” white paper.

To learn about best practices on the IT side of social networking, join Burton Group and NewsGator in a free live webinar, “IT Best Practices for Enterprise Social Networking” on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. EST. To register, click here.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

Contact Information

Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com
www.newsgator.com

Karen Pantinas
Beaupre
603-559-5836
kpantinas(at)beaupre(dot)com
www.beaupre.com

TMS Expands Sports Widgets for Online Newspapers

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:52:42 GMT

Widgets Feature Game-Time Information and Enhanced Coverage of Local Team Sports

Chicago, September 18, 2008 – Continuing its expansion of widgets for newspaper websites, leading entertainment content provider Tribune Media Services is announcing a new release of its sports widget product line to include all major professional and college team sports. Local sports fans can now turn to their newspaper website to easily and quickly track broadcast times and channels for all their favorite local market teams.

This is the second major release in the TMS sports widget product line following the April release of the Baseball TV widget. All TMS widgets are powered by leading Software-as-a-Service technology company NewsGator, which has partnered with TMS to provide new and innovative online solutions for TV entertainment content. Designed to fit on a newspaper’s web sports page, the new widgets:
• provide local ad inventory for newspapers
• quickly and easily integrate into a newspaper’s website
• are viral, allowing users to easily transport the newspaper’s brand to their own personal start pages
• provide flexible setup options to track and update home team schedules, as well as all games for a sport, on local and national channels in the newspaper’s market

“The expansion of our sports widget product enables newspapers to become the one-stop local market leader in online sports TV information,” said Greg Loose, Director of New Product Development for TMS. “The fact that these widgets are portable provides newspapers a unique opportunity to extend their brand, even beyond their own website.” Added Cameron Yung, Executive Director of Sales, “We’ve already seen the success of our baseball widget at work in many major newspapers. With these new widgets, sports fans will never miss a game by using the newspaper’s sports widget to plan their sports viewing.”

TMS is the leader in providing television listings data to online and on-screen services. Long a provider of complete hosted Zap2it Movies and Zap2it TV pages to hundreds of newspapers, TMS now demonstrates how smaller slices of listings data can help newspapers add reader and advertiser appeal through their websites.

About Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services' Entertainment Products division is an international leader in entertainment navigation, providing industry-leading databases of TV, movie and celebrity information; guides in print, online and on-screen formats; and advertising and marketing services to build audiences. For more information about TMS Entertainment Products visit TribuneMediaServices.com.

About NewsGator Software-As-A-Service
NewsGator Software-as-a-Service encompasses NewsGator Technologies’ syndication and data services offerings and helps media companies, content publishers and advertisers engage audiences through the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. NewsGator's Web 2.0 syndication products, including personalized RSS readers, Widget Framework, Community Publisher and Widget Ads, give companies the tools they need to enable their audiences to create, subscribe and interact with the most relevant content while staying within the company's brand. NewsGator Software-as-a-Service is in use by some of the world's largest media companies and brands, including CNN, Media General, National Geographic, Newsweek, CBS News, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today and Discovery Communications. For more information, please visit: www.newsgatorwidgets.com.

Media Contact
Cameron Yung
Executive Director, Newspaper Sales
312.527.8111 - cyung(at)tribune(dot)com

Bloggers and ‘Qikkers’ amplify new media voice at the Democratic National Convention

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:02:41 GMT

Content syndication widgets from NewsGator consolidate blog posts and mobile phone video streams, presenting ultimate source for unfiltered convention action

DENVER, Aug. 25, 2008 — As bloggers and video bloggers gain influence over presidential politics, the electorate has a fresh way of tracking their portrayal of this week’s Democratic National Convention in real time. Denver-based NewsGator Technologies is aggregating new media feeds in content syndication widgets especially for the convention, enabling any individual, media company, webmaster or social network to freely grab and plug the widget into their own site. These widgets are views into the real action at the convention from an aggressively unfiltered perspective.

The “NewsGator Big Tent Widget” www.bigtentdenver.org is a Web-based window that captures, consolidates and displays blog posts (RSS feeds) the instant authors publish them. The widget will show the latest content first, with priority on hot topics and popular blogs. Anyone can grab the widget with a single click and share it with readers, viewers, and friends, or just keep it on their personal start page. The widget is named for the Big Tent new media center built for the convention.

The “Qik Convention Widget” http://qik.com/dncwidget is a similar content syndication app that consolidates and streams live video as mobile phone users capture it using Qik’s phone-to-web service. Qik enables some of the world’s most immediate and dramatic citizen journalism, and Qikkers were instrumental in breaking stories in Beijing during the Olympics.

“Qik users can broadcast live video from wherever they are, directly from their cell phone, whether it’s a family gathering or a major national event,” said Qik CEO Ramu Sunkara. “Now, Qikkers streaming live from the DNC can connect with an even wider audience thanks to NewsGator’s widespread widget distribution. Combining Qik’s live video service with NewsGator’s broad syndication power gives bloggers at the DNC unprecedented reach.”

The NewsGator Big Tent Widget consolidates feeds from nearly 200 bloggers, new media journalists and nonprofit leaders credentialed for the Big Tent, the 9,000-square foot new media center and blogger home base hosted by Progress Now, Daily KOS, and Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and sponsored by NewsGator, Digg, Google and others.

“The influence and impact of new media in recent years is undeniable, but many folks miss out on the conversation aspect of social media,” said Jeff Nolan, vice president of NewsGator’s Media and Consumer division. “We’re making it easy to follow the conversation – and, in fact, join it – by putting the entire chorus of Democratic National Convention bloggers and Qikkers in one place. With either widget, it takes a single click for any publisher, traditional or new, to bring the historic conversation to one’s own web site visitors.”

Aggregating blog posts is a natural service for Denver-based NewsGator, whose RSS readers for Windows, Mac and the Web are the most popular on the planet. In addition, many traditional media companies – including CNN, Media General, National Geographic, Newsweek, CBS News, Reuters, USA Today and Discovery Communications – use NewsGator widgets to syndicate their articles and photos across the Internet, generating additional page views and advertising revenue. Bloggers who sell ad space on their blogs will generate additional readers and income through the Big Tent widget.

About NewsGator Widgets
NewsGator widgets are easy to create. Companies simply sign up for a NewsGator account, select a content feed and presentation scheme, then add the widget to their web page, blog, start page or social network.

NewsGator widgets are unique for their analytics and control. Widget owners can track page views, click-throughs, syndications to other sites and special interaction like commenting, rating or forwarding. Widget-makers can whitelist or blacklist sources and make important posts float at the top of feed lists. For more information, visit www.NewsGatorWidgets.com.

About Qik
Qik, the world’s leading mobile live video streaming platform, lets anyone stream video live from their mobile phone to anywhere in the world. Its innovative, patent-pending technology enables anyone to share their moments live with their friends and family or the entire world. Notable events captured on Qik include the lighting of the Olympic torch from both inside and outside the Olympic stadium in Beijing, the Mars landing from mission control, and sessions from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Qik is available on a wide variety of cell phones, including Nokia N-series phones and a selection of Windows Mobile phones. Find additional Qik videos, including those streaming live, here: http://qik.com.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

Contact Information

Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com
www.newsgator.com

Karen Pantinas
Beaupre
603-559-5836
kpantinas(at)beaupre(dot)com
www.beaupre.com

National Geographic and NewsGator Partner to Create Viral Widget Campaign

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:33:13 GMT

Rapid Co-Branding Redefines Syndication Model as 23 Major Media Sites Adopt Puzzle Widget

Denver, Colo. — August 19, 2008 — NewsGator Technologies, Inc. today announced that it has partnered with National Geographic to create, host and track a series of dynamic widgets, including an interactive puzzle widget that transforms photographs into a digital jigsaw puzzle that users spend, on average, several minutes assembling. The campaign redefines and transcends the traditional widget syndication model (download to start pages and social networking sites such as Facebook, iGoogle, or MyYahoo) by adding a new dimension of distribution, allowing third parties to co-brand the widget and feature it on their own sites. Major media sites including Tampa Bay Online and the Dayton Daily News have already picked up the puzzle widgets.

NewsGator-hosted National Geographic widgets include OurShot, a widget in which photo editors highlight recent exceptional work, and YourShot, through which end users can contribute photos in the hopes of being featured in the magazine. The YourShot widget features finalists each day in the form of a puzzle, which can then be co-branded by third parties and featured on their sites at no charge. Interested third parties are able to add the puzzle widget by using a single URL to submit their logo and RSS feed information. In just the first 30 days of the launch, the widget was syndicated to over 23 media sites not affiliated with National Geographic, extending the potential reach of the National Geographic branded widget to over 3 million new users.

“We’re looking to find ways to take advantage of the latest Web technology to increase our online presence and extend our coverage, and NewsGator’s Widget Services are a natural fit for us to accomplish that,” said Rob Covey, managing editor and creative director of National Geographic. “With the puzzle widget, we have really been able to extend our brand through co-branding, now allowing our partner sites to get up and running with the widget smoothly and efficiently through a single URL.”

“National Geographic is the latest of our growing list of media customers who are defining a new generation of media experience based on dynamic content syndication and user interaction that results in a more engaged audience,” said Jeff Nolan, vice president, NewsGator Consumer and Media Services. “By redefining the syndication model, we are enabling our clients to extend their best content to major media sites in addition to start pages and social networking sites – resulting in much greater exposure and the potential for an exponential number of ads to be served.”

NewsGator’s syndication and data services offerings help media companies, content publishers and advertisers engage audiences through the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. NewsGator's Web 2.0 syndication products, including personalized RSS readers, Widget Framework and Widget Ads, give companies the tools they need to enable their audiences to create, subscribe and interact with the most relevant content while staying within the company's brand. NewsGator’s widget and data services are in use by some of the world’s largest media companies and brands, including CNN, Media General, National Geographic, Newsweek, CBS News, Reuters, USA Today and Discovery Communications. For more information, visit www.NewsGatorWidgets.com.

About National Geographic Digital Media
National Geographic Digital Media (NGDM) is the multimedia division of National Geographic Ventures, the wholly owned, taxable subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, one of the world’s largest educational and scientific nonprofit organizations. At the forefront of the digital media revolution, NGDM publishes Nationalgeographic.com; delivers multimedia content to digital consumers; manages content partnerships across broadband, mobile, gaming and other consumer digital platforms; and provides video and film footage to commercial, theatrical, education and other digital footage markets.

Contact Information:
Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
www.newsgator.com
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Karen Pantinas
Beaupre & Co. Public Relations
www.beaupre.com
603-559-5836
kpantinas(at)beaupre(dot)com

NEWSGATOR & GIGYA PARTNER TO BRING NEW CONTENT SYNDICATION AND DISTRIBUTION CAPABILITIES TO MEDIA COMPANIES

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:53:41 GMT

Combined Solution Provides Companies With Access to the Industry’s Largest Database of Public RSS Content & the Leading Distribution & Tracking Technology

Palo Alto, CA – July 22, 2008 - NewsGator Technologies and Gigya, the largest widget distribution network, today announced a partnership to bring new capabilities to media companies looking to grow both the audience and revenue for their content. With this partnership, NewsGator will integrate Gigya’s Wildfire distribution and tracking technology into its industry leading syndication network. The combined offer will provide media clients with a streamlined process for content syndication, the ability to distribute content to audiences on more than 50 platforms, and sophisticated tracking that details where content is being consumed.

“We are excited to work with Gigya to implement their Wildfire technology,” said Jeff Nolan, VP of Consumer and Media Services with NewsGator. “By partnering with Gigya, we enable our top tier media clients to distribute their content to audiences on top social networks, blog platforms, and desktop platforms – and as their audience grows the opportunity for advertising revenue also grows. Together, we will up the ante for widget and social application strategies deployed by mainstream media sites and advertisers.”

Major media companies around the world are turning to NewsGator Widget Services to simplify the syndication of content. With NewsGator’s syndication network, media companies have access to the industry’s largest database of public RSS content. The network has an archive of over 2.1 billion individual content items and more than 7 million posts are added daily. NewsGator’s network simplifies content syndication by enabling media companies to integrate publicly available content for an enhanced user experience. With easy access to third party content, media firms can offer audiences far more compelling and comprehensive news and information which drives repeat visits, increases site interaction time, and improves web monetization. NewsGator’s hosted content management application provides widget creators with advanced tools for managing streaming content in widgets, and now with Wildfire the best in class sharing and tracking tools that enhance viral adoption of widget content.

Gigya’s technologies have become the industry standard for distributing and tracking content on the social web, reaching 142 Million unique widget users worldwide in May 2008 according to comScore. More than one thousand media companies, advertisers, and widget platforms are currently using Gigya’s tools and technologies to grow the audience for, and engagement with, their content.

“NewsGator’s extensive syndication network and Gigya’s Wildfire technology provide media companies with a new syndication model that expands their access to content and helps them reach new audiences in social spaces,” said Rooly Eliezerov, President and Co-Founder of Gigya. “As the largest widget distribution network in the world, we are delighted that NewsGator has selected our Wildfire technology and we look forward to a long-term partnership developing new widget business models for our clients.”

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

About Gigya
Gigya is the leading widget and social technologies company, serving brand advertisers, media companies, and widget developers. Gigya’s content sharing and advertising platform helps publishers and advertisers increase reach and engagement, distributing widgets to any platform and providing both user social graphs and powerful social features to any website. Gigya serves the world's largest brands with a full-service widget advertising model covering design, development, hosting, distribution, viral promotion, tracking and optimization. Gigya's Wildfire technology installs hundreds of thousands of widgets per day and tracks billions of impressions per month. Gigya’s partners include EyeWonder, DoubleClick, Eyeblaster, Electronic Arts, RockYou!, Webshots, Snapvine and many others. To learn more or to get started, go to: www.gigya.com.

Gigya Media Contacts:
Richard L. Tso
Gigya, Inc.
650/353-7246
richard@gigya-inc.com

Dan Gould
SHIFT Communications
415/412-1068
dgould@shiftcomm.com

NewsGator Media Contacts:
Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303/552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Jennifer Gazin or Zoe Vandeveer
LaunchSquad
415/625-8555
Newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com

NewsGator Announces Native NetNewsWire Application for iPhone on Apple App Store

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:01:04 GMT

New Free Mobile RSS Reader Syncs with NewsGator’s Full Suite of Products for Easy, On-the-Go Access

Denver, Colo. — July 10, 2008 — NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced the availability of NetNewsWire for iPhone and iPod touch, a free native application based on the market-leading, critically-acclaimed RSS feed reader for Mac. NetNewsWire for iPhone will sync with NewsGator’s suite of RSS readers, including NetNewsWire for Macintosh, FeedDemon, Inbox, and NewsGator Online - providing users a lightweight, easy application to keep up with feeds on the go.

The application is extremely easy-to-use and features a simple, clear user interface that complements the iPhone and iPod touch experience. NetNewsWire for iPhone makes it easy for users to cycle through all their news by using the “Next Unread” button, which goes from story to story with a quick tap of a single button. Users can also save items to read or blog about later via clipping, and saved items also sync with the desktop and browser-based RSS readers.

“With NetNewsWire for iPhone, we wanted to create a reading experience that goes hand-in-hand with the iPhone’s intuitive ease-of-use,” said Brent Simmons, creator of the NetNewsWire family of products. “People are increasingly realizing that RSS is the fastest, most efficient way to read their favorite news and blogs from wherever they are. The popularity of the iPhone and iPod touch makes it the perfect platform to create an outstanding mobile application that can become a part of people’s everyday experience.”

NetNewsWire for iPhone is available for free beginning today from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com

Contact Information
Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Corey Lewis or Zoe Vandeveer
LaunchSquad
415.625.8555
newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com

Agence France-Presse and NewsGator Partner to Offer Media Companies Free, Co-Branded Sports Widgets

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:55:46 GMT

Olympics Widgets Provide Media Companies With Advertising Revenue & Complimentary Premium Content

Denver, Colo. — July 9, 2008 — NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced a partnership with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to provide widgets featuring Olympics news and event coverage to media sites at no charge. With this program, media companies receive complimentary access to premium AFP content prepackaged in branded and engaging widgets that they can add to their Web site. The Olympics widgets are supported by advertising and approved distribution partners are eligible to receive a portion of the advertising revenue generated by the widgets.

NewsGator-hosted AFP widgets feature popular Olympics content including a countdown to the Games, event news and results, sports animations, videos, photos, quizzes and more. Each widget includes the media company’s logo and links to Olympics-related articles and content. The Olympic content is provided by AFP and actually resides on the media company’s Web site. A media company simply places the widgets on their site. Readers can then view the widgets and port them to their favorite Web location. Every time a reader clicks on one of the widget links they are directed back to the media company’s Web site where the full content is displayed on Web pages that can be monetized with ads.

The Olympics widgets are available free-of-charge and there are no maintenance or resource requirements. Interested third parties simply visit NewsGator’s Web site to provide their logo and Web site information*.

"With NewsGator’s innovative syndication model, we are extending our brand and content not only to social networking sites but also to major media sites," said Gilles Tarot, sales & marketing director for AFP North America. "The result is significantly greater exposure and increased online ad revenue for our media partners."

"AFP is offering media companies a truly unique opportunity with access to premium content that is in high demand," said Jeff Nolan, vice president, NewsGator Consumer and Media Services. "According to Sports Marketing Surveys, 203 million people in North America alone watched the 2004 Athens Games and significant growth in viewership is expected for the 2008 Beijing Games. We are helping our distribution partners generate revenue off this program and that’s a big deal for media companies - premium content in a widget package that features their own branding and we guarantee they generate revenue."

*Please note: This campaign is available for United States and Canadian-based companies only and participation is subject to approval by AFP and NewsGator.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.

NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

About Agence France-Presse (AFP)

AFP is a global news agency, delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,900 staff and stringers spread across 165 countries, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages, delivering the news in video, text, photographs, multimedia and graphics. For more information about AFP, please go to www.afp.com.

Contact Information

Laura Farrelly

NewsGator

303-552-2046

lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Jennifer Gazin or Zoe Vandeveer

LaunchSquad

415.625.8555

newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com

NewsGator Announces Widget Partnership with DAC, Japan's Leading Online Advertising Solutions Provider

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:52:31 GMT

Denver, Colo. — June 26, 2008 — NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced a partnership with Digital Advertising Consortium (DAC), one of Japan's largest online advertising solutions providers, for exclusive rights to offer NewsGator Widget Services to Japanese media companies and brands. Under this partnership, DAC will market NewsGator Widgets for content syndication.

Major media companies around the world are turning to NewsGator Widget Services to create widgets that syndicate content to Web sites, blogs, social networks, and start pages and in the process create additional advertising revenue and reach new audiences. Widgets are currently being used by companies like National Geographic, which has a series of viral and interactive puzzle widgets featuring their photography, and Tribune Media Services, which is using NewsGator for ad sponsored mini-applications that provide readers with easy access to their favorite baseball team’s television and radio schedules.

"This is a terrific market opportunity for NewsGator – Japan is the second largest online advertising market in the world, and this partnership will enable NewsGator and DAC to work together in partnership to power widget strategies for Japanese advertisers and marketers," said Jeff Nolan, vice president, NewsGator Consumer and Media Services. "We are honored and privileged to work with DAC, a highly respected and premier company, as we enter the market in Japan."

"Partnering with NewsGator will allow us to offer powerful, viral and trackable widgets to our large customer base of media companies and brands," said Akihiko Tokuhisa, the Chief Technology Officer of DAC. "Japanese companies are using widgets to introduce new types of content to their Web pages and add viral functionality – they’re already having great success in reaching and engaging broad audiences."

About NewsGator Software-as-a-Service

NewsGator’s syndication and data services offerings help media companies, content publishers and advertisers engage audiences through the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. NewsGator's Web 2.0 syndication products, including personalized RSS readers, Widget Framework, Community Publisher and Widget Ads, give companies the tools they need to enable their audiences to create, subscribe and interact with the most relevant content while staying within the company's brand. NewsGator‘s widget and data services are in use by some of the world's largest media companies and brands, including CNN, Media General, National Geographic, Newsweek, CBS News, Reuters, USA Today and Discovery Communications. For more information, visit www.NewsGatorWidgets.com.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.

About DAC

Digital Advertising Consortium (DAC) is a company integrating advertising business, founded by the several biggest advertising agencies in Japan, such as Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc., ASATSU-DK Inc. Based on three main services: Media, Operations and Technology, DAC provides high quality service for both buying and selling online advertising through the large network of websites. For internet media buying and selling, DAC plays a role of media rep to bring together publishers and agencies. DAC represents Japan's major websites: Yahoo! Japan, MSN Japan, Infoseek and many more. For more information, visit en.dac.co.jp.

Contact Information

Laura Farrelly

NewsGator

303-552-2046

lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Jennifer Gazin or Zoe Vandeveer

LaunchSquad

415.625.8555

newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com

NewsGator Releases Editor’s Desk 2.1

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:28:13 GMT

NewsGator Releases Editor’s Desk 2.1

New Version Of NewsGator’s Widget Platform Makes It Even Easier for Brand & Media Companies to Build, Deploy, & Track Widgets

Denver, Colo. — June 19, 2008 — NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced the general availability of Editor’s Desk 2.1, a new version of the company’s widget platform that makes it even easier for brand and media companies to build, deploy, and track widgets.

Updates to NewsGator’s widget platform include a dramatically redesigned user interface, sophisticated new templates, and an easier, more streamlined workflow for widget creation. Editor’s Desk 2.1 boasts exciting new features including a widget search tool for simple creation of subject-specific content widgets, a duplicating “clone” capability that allows users to easily create similar widgets, and feed monitoring that provides instant feedback on widget performance and feed errors.

“Media and brand companies are embracing widget strategies at a breakneck pace because syndicating content with widgets works,” said Jeff Nolan, vice president, NewsGator Software-as-a-Service. “By simplifying the creation, deployment, and management of widgets, Editor’s Desk 2.1 enables companies to quickly and easily realize positive business results from extended brand reach to increased website monetization.”

NewsGator’s widget platform is part of NewsGator Software-as-a-Service, which encompasses the company’s syndication and data services offerings and helps media companies, content publishers and advertisers engage audiences through the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. NewsGator's Web 2.0 syndication products, including personalized RSS readers, Widget Framework, Community Publisher and Widget Ads, give companies the tools they need to enable their audiences to create, subscribe and interact with the most relevant content while staying within the company's brand. NewsGator‘s widget and data services are in use by some of the world's largest media companies and brands, including CNN, Media General, National Geographic, Newsweek, CBS News, Reuters, USA Today and Discovery Communications. For more information, visit www.NewsGatorWidgets.com.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com

Contact Information
Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com

Jennifer Gazin or Zoe Vandeveer
LaunchSquad
415.625.8555
newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com