Commission Junction Network Achieves Record 2002 Holiday Sales; Advertisers' Pay-for-Performance Results Beat Industry Average.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2003

Commission Junction (www.cj.com), a leader in pay-for-performance marketing, announced today its network realized a record sales increase during the 2002 holiday season over the previous year. Although a recent online retailing survey by Boston Consulting Group Inc. and Forrester Research Inc. concluded that 2002 was a break-even year for online retailers, Commission Junction advertisers' pay-for-performance marketing revenues surpassed the industry averages.

With Commission Junction's scalable technology and service offering, advertisers in the network increased their 2002 sales revenue from pay-for-performance marketing between Nov. 1 and Dec. 20 by 129 percent on average over the previous year. Commission Junction advertisers also reported sales revenue growth of 150 percent for the week ending Dec. 20, 2002, over the same week in 2001. Notably, Commission Junction advertiser clients in the United Kingdom saw a 255 percent sales revenue increase for the 2002 holiday season compared to last year.

Commission Junction advertisers exemplify how performance-based advertising continues to help companies grow in an uncertain economy. Retailer KBtoys.com (www.kbtoys.com) joined Commission Junction at the beginning of 2002 and leveraged pay-for-performance advertising with great success, especially during the holiday season.

"Commission Junction played a key role in our marketing strategy for the holiday season," said Mike Wagner, senior vice president and chief operating officer, KBtoys.com. "Its pay-for-performance publishers consistently drove high-converting, quality traffic to our two sites, KBtoys.com and eToys."

Commission Junction client Zappos.com (www.zappos.com), a popular online shoe retailer, increased its sales revenue 439 percent in 2002 for the holiday time period over the previous year through its pay-for-performance advertising program. Zappos.com attributes its success to consistent, effective communication and cooperation that continuously builds on quality publisher relationships, and a Web-based solution that facilitates nurturing those relationships. Zappos.com uses banners and text links primarily to promote the company, but has also achieved results with its Commission Junction product catalog of thousands of product images available for publishers to place on their sites as clickable ads. Zappos.com's product catalog had an average click-through rate of 18 percent for the month of December 2002.

"Commission Junction's network affords us an excellent opportunity to increase our online exposure and achieve tremendous results through an exceptionally high quality group of publishers," said Jack Kotowski, affiliate manager, Zappos.com. "Not only have we sold a large number of shoes through this channel, but it's a great customer acquisition vehicle, and it's profitable at the same time."

"Commission Junction's success continues to exceed expectations and industry averages, and we expect the positive trends to continue as more advertisers turn to pay-for-performance to effectively reach consumers online and increase their revenue," said Jeff Pullen, president and chief executive officer, Commission Junction. "Through the recently launched CJ Vantage offering, Commission Junction is working more closely with advertisers to optimize their online marketing relationships and will continue to roll out features and services that will enable its clients to drive more revenue cost-effectively."

About Commission Junction

Commission Junction, a leader in pay-for-performance marketing, delivers advanced solutions that facilitate strategic online relationships between advertisers and publishers, driving accountable results for each client. By publishing performance metrics on advertisers, publishers, and ads within its network and leveraging its own expertise in online marketing through service, education and promotion, Commission Junction creates an open marketplace of low risk and high reward for its clients. The company serves billions of impressions monthly, ranking it among the largest ad networks in the world. Clients include leading online marketers eBay, GSI Commerce, MSN(R), and USA TODAY. Commission Junction is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif., with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. For additional information, visit www.cj.com or call 800/761-1072.