Bid4Spots Crosses $2 Million Threshold, Marks 1,000th Auction on First Anniversary of Launch; With Some 2,300 Radio Stations Aboard, Bid4Spots Solidifies Position as Nation's Largest Radio Advertising Network.

DALLAS -- Bid4Spots (www.bid4spots.com), a pioneering online reverse auction marketplace for unsold radio ad inventory, today announced that on its first anniversary the company has reached the $2 million milestone, awarding auction winnings with that aggregate value among its participating radio stations. Bid4Spots made the announcement at The NAB Radio Show, here through Sept. 22.

In a separate announcement, the company today introduced PowerBidder - patent-pending technology that automates certain aspects of the bidding process, allowing for scalability so that general sales managers with multiple stations can enter their rates on one bidding screen and within seconds apply them to multiple auctions.

Launched in September 2005, Bid4Spots introduced the industry's first online reverse auction marketplace for last-minute radio airtime, where participants bid ad rates down and the lowest bidder wins. Today, nearly 2,300 radio stations nationwide have signed up to participate in Bid4Spots auctions, representing nearly all of the top 300 U.S. markets - solidifying the company's position as the largest radio advertising network in the country.

More than 900 advertisers and more than 180 ad agencies have enrolled in Bid4Spots to buy last-minute airtime from radio stations. The patent-pending advertising marketplace now covers about half the Arbitron-rated radio market and an aggregate listener base of roughly 59 million Americans, per Arbitron data.

"Our growth is certainly gratifying for the company, but it's also a statement about how the market itself has matured," said Dave Newmark, Bid4Spots chairman and CEO. "The concept of using the online medium as an advertising sales and distribution channel is now beyond dispute. The remaining question is just how big this approach will become."

CruiseOne - Profiting from Reverse Auctions

For advertisers, Bid4Spots' reverse auction model produces the industry's lowest rates, because radio stations compete for their business and drive prices down. For radio stations, Bid4Spots generates additional revenue by making it easy to sell last-minute inventory. There are low minimum expenditure requirements, no weekly commitments, and no need for the time-consuming negotiations required for scheduled spots.

CruiseOne, which helps cruise lines advertise and market their unsold inventory, created the 1,000th auction on Bid4Spots on September 7 for the broadcast week of September 11

"Bid4Spots is a great tool - one that gave us much more bang for the buck than what we could have gotten working directly with radio stations," said Mike Monahan, director of marketing for CruiseOne. "Our ability to quickly create a campaign, and execute such an efficient radio buy has given us co-op opportunities that we wouldn't have had otherwise."

CruiseOne is part of National Leisure Group, the world's largest retailer of cruises. Monahan's division works with more than 450 franchisees selling under the CruiseOne brand and more than 460 independent contractors selling under Cruises Inc.

With the campaign just now taking off, Monahan reported a solid response to the company's ads and high exposure at a low cost. CruiseOne began using Bid4Spots in August as part of a radio sales campaign to brand the company and to sell cruises specifically in markets from which people can drive to the ship. "Our buys are usually very close in and targeted to a specific cruise line's need," he said.

Monahan praised the simplicity and time-saving nature of the online buying process, which enables his firm to specify demographics and markets, as well as spot volume and budget by daypart in just minutes. But he also cited the personal service that backs up the technology. "I like that customer-support people follow up and are there to answer any questions," he said.

Most businesses don't have the luxury of holding endless meetings with radio station sales executives, fielding proposals and generating a bidding war just to get a competitive price for spots, according to Monahan. "Bid4Spots is a competitive marketplace that allows radio stations to fight for my business," he said. "A station's bids are based upon their actual Arbitron numbers for my target demographic. Bid4Spots generated several bids for my spots and it took just a few minutes of my time to set up an auction. The end result was a competitive, targeted buy that gave me the most exposure for my advertising dollar."

About Bid4Spots

Based in Encino, Calif., Bid4Spots transforms the often ineffective process of buying and selling last-minute radio spots with the industry's first CPM-based reverse auction. Created by ad agency veteran Dave Newmark, Bid4Spots leverages the Internet to offer a flexible, fast solution that increases radio stations' revenues by helping them leave no daypart unsold, while broadening access to radio airtime for advertisers willing to forego the selection of specific stations and advance planning, in return for much lower ad rates.