Chitika Named a Finalist for the 2008 MITX Technology Awards

Business Wire, May 7, 2008

Fifth Annual MITX What's Next Forum & Technology Awards Recognize Outstanding Technology Advancements in New England Region

BOSTON -- Chitika Inc., a leader in online branding and advertising, today announced that it has been named as a finalist for the fifth Annual MITX Technology Awards. The MITX What's Next Forum & Technology Awards recognize innovative technologies developed in the New England area, as well as the individuals and organizations responsible for driving these advancements. The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX, www.mitx.org) is the country's leading association bringing together digital marketing, media and technology professionals to engage in what's next for the web and how it impacts the marketing and business worlds.

Chitika will be recognized for its innovative Viral Branding Unit (VBU), along with the other finalists in the category of Marketing/Customer Relationship Technologies, at an awards ceremony attended by the region's top technology and business professionals. The Chitika VBU is a highly customizable branding unit that offers powerful options for viral marketing, including Comment, Share it and Rate it tabs. The VBU also has advanced targeting capabilities that deliver excellent results at the site, category and keyword levels. Brands already using the VBU are experiencing greater than three times the click through rates of traditional banner ads.

"We designed the Viral Branding Unit to engage consumers at the highest levels and early advertiser results show click through rates much higher than traditional online ads," said Venkat Kolluri, CEO of Chitika. "We believe that the VBU will change the way brands interact with consumers, and it's very exciting to have our vision recognized by the MITX community of innovators and thought leaders."

"In its fifth year, the MITX Technology Awards have attracted some of the most distinguished technological innovations that the region has to offer," said Kiki Mills, executive director of MITX. "It is this tremendous interest that enables our organization to accomplish its mission of uniting the brightest minds in the digital marketing, media and technology community and honoring their outstanding achievement."

The MITX What's Next Forum & Technology Awards are sponsored by Backbone Media, DLA Piper, Invest Northern Ireland, LEWIS PR, Oracle and Technology Review.

About Chitika

Chitika (www.chitika.com) is a full-service on-line advertising network specializing in the new web. For advertisers and media buyers, Chitika is a proven channel for targeting on-line consumers and qualified buyers, and engaging them in relevant, brand-specific or product-specific conversations. For all publishers, Chitika is an easy-to-use platform for earning daily ad revenue. Founded in 2003, Chitika now serves more than two billion ads per month across a network of over 20,000 blogs and websites.