Topix Grows to the Third Largest Newspaper Website, According to comScore

Business Wire, August 27, 2008

Local Community News Site Achieves Double-Digit Growth; Attracts 6 Million Unique Visitors in July 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Topix (www.topix.com), the largest news community on the web, has now become the third largest individual newspaper web site, according to comScore Media Metrix (July 2008). Only the New York Times and USA Today surpass Topix in national reach, but only Topix provides ZIP code level news for every town and city in the U.S.

                                          <
Total Unique Visitors (000)
NYTIMES.COM                               <
11,907
USATODAY Sites                            <
6,491
TOPIX.COM                                 <
6,020
WASHINGTONPOST.COM                        <
5,769
LATIMES.COM                               <
5,174
Source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2008  <

Topix grew its audience by 11 percent over June, almost four times faster than the newspaper category as a whole, which grew just 3 percent. In addition, the comScore data indicates that the audience of Topix visitors is incremental and complementary to the audiences of traditional newspaper sites. For example, only 11 percent NYTimes.com and 10 percent of USAToday.com visitors also visit Topix. This is good news for advertisers seeking to reach new, locally engaged audiences across the country.

"Consumers tend to do most of their spending within a close radius of where they live and work," said Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix. "That is why it's important to reach these buyers in a local context, with relevant advertising that can impact the point of sale. Topix is the only site that can provide this nationwide footprint of local content and engagement."

About Topix

Topix is the leading news community on the Web, connecting people to the information and discussions that matter to them in every U.S. town and city. The third largest individual newspaper website (comScore, July 2008), the company links news from 50,000 sources to 360,000 lively user-generated forums. Topix also works with the nation's major media companies to grow and engage their online audiences through forums, publishing platforms and RSS feeds. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Topix LLC is a privately held company with investment from Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Company. For more, visit www.topix.com.