Holiday Cards Made Easy with Enhanced AOL E-Cards Service; Recent Study Shows that More than 50% of Internet Users Send Online Greetings for Christmas

Business Wire, Nov 25, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 25, 2003

New AOL E-Cards Will be Delivered via AOL(R) Priority Mail

At the onset of what promises to be one of the busiest e-holiday seasons ever, America Online, Inc., makes sharing the warmth of the season with friends, family and colleagues simple and convenient through its new and enhanced AOL E-Cards service. The new service taps into the growing popularity of online greetings with nearly two thousand e-cards, organized in 140 categories. Members can now send greetings to any e-mail address at no additional charge.

According to the second annual "Wired Shopping Survey," conducted by America Online, Inc., and Digital Marketing Services, more than 75% of the survey's respondents said they send online greeting cards for birthdays, and 50% send online Christmas cards. To provide members an added measure of online safety and security, AOL E-Card greetings will be delivered as "AOL Priority Mail," prominently appearing in the recipient's mailbox with an orange AOL(R) triangle to help users recognize legitimate AOL E-Cards quickly among other e-mails.

The AOL E-Cards service complements the Instant Greetings(TM) messages that have already been a breakthrough success among members. Instant Greetings combine the immediacy of instant messages and the experience of online greetings in a real-time, rich animation that jumps onto the recipient's screen with a personalized message. Members have sent more than five million Instant Greetings since its debut in May. AOL will launch a new selection of Instant Greetings messages expressly for the holidays, and will continue to add new Instant Greetings messages to its collection each month.

"We continue to offer our members enhanced tools available for self-expression, and we make the process easy by integrating these new features directly into the AOL service," said Julie McCool, Executive Director, America Online, Inc. "In addition to offering members a great selection of online greetings, AOL E-Cards makes it simple and convenient for members to access important e-mail addresses via the integrated AOL(R) Address Book. It also ties in the AOL(R) Calendar, displaying a personalized list of birthdays, anniversaries and holidays that remind members of occasions appropriate for sending an E-Card."

Members who prefer paper cards will be offered the opportunity to personalize and print their own greetings through the AOL E-Cards site using the American Greetings.com tool, Create & Print. The recently launched subscription service allows users access to thousands of printable cards, envelopes, invitations, stickers and more from home or work. Every project can be customized with names, fonts, words, artwork and even photos.

Members can find the new AOL E-Cards by going to AOL(R) Keyword: E-Cards. Instant Greetings messages can be accessed by going to AOL Keyword: Instant Greetings.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.