ABOUT.COM TO EXPAND EXPERT PREMIUM CONTENT
Web Site Launches Spanish-Language Channel, About en Español, Reveals Plans to Grow Guide Sites and Double Videos This Year
NEW YORK, NY (April 8, 2011) – About.com (http://www.about.com) announced today that it will greatly expand the existing premium content offering on its platform this year to further help users solve the large and small needs of everyday life. As part of this expansion, the site has launched its first Spanish-language channel, About en Español, revealed plans to grow its roster of topic sites (Guide sites) supported by independent subject matter experts (Guides) and double its high-quality video content over the course of this year.
“About.com’s more than 14 years of experience helping users accomplish their goals has taught us that when a user comes to you from search with a need, the most satisfying, trustworthy way to answer is with information from highly accomplished experts, capable of addressing the user’s need from all angles,” said Cella Irvine, president and CEO, About Group.
With the growing population of Hispanics online in the United States, About.com’s new Spanish-language channel, About en Español, will provide these users with quality content they can trust, when they need it most. The new channel currently features nine topics including movies, music, kids, dogs, Internet for beginners, personal computers, literature, makeup and spreadsheets, with nearly 100 more expected by the end 2011.
In addition to About en Español, the About.com platform plans to increase its roster of Guide sites it hosts by approximately 25 percent across popular categories such as food, health, home, parenting, automotive, and many others. About.com will also more than double the number of how-to and do-it-yourself videos throughout the site’s 24 channels in response to growing user interest for content in this format.
Furthermore, About.com’s content expansions this year will provide advertisers with new ways to reach its search-driven users, at a time when they are actively seeking solutions the most.
Also new to the site is a redesigned homepage, which showcases both Guides and the premium content About.com hosts, which Guides create. In support of user preferences, the homepage visually expresses About.com’s breadth and depth of expert content and provides users with quick access to the site’s 3 million pieces of content.
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About The About Group
The About Group owns and operates a platform which comprises the Web sites About.com, ConsumerSearch.comand CalorieCount.com. About.com is a valuable resource for content that helps users solve the large and small needs of everyday life. ConsumerSearch.com analyzes expert and user-generated consumer product reviews and recommends the best products to purchase based on the findings. CalorieCount.comis an online resource that helps users solve the everyday challenges of losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle.
The About Group is part of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2010 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.comand About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include national and local conditions, as well as competition, that could influence the levels (rate and volume) of retail, national and classified advertising and circulation generated by our various markets, material increases in newsprint prices and the development of our digital businesses. They also include other risks detailed from time to time in The New York Times Company’s publicly filed documents, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2010. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
