Inaugural Web-Based Supreme Court Battle Ready to Commence

Paid Search to Emerge as Key Persuasion Tool as Groups Take Messages Direct to the Desktop; Reprise Media Anticipates Supreme Court-related Keyword Purchases to be in High Demand

New York, NY, July 11, 2005 - Justice Sandra Day OConnors retirement marks the first time a Supreme Court Justice has stepped down since the rise of the Web and its top search engines, Google and Yahoo!, among others. As President Bush gathers this week with his top aides and key Senate leaders, advocacy groups arm their war rooms and political advertising consultants draft 30- and 60-second television and radio spots, one question arises: with a seat on the Supreme Court at stake, how will the Web be used to motivate the masses?

Analysts expect advocacy groups to spend upwards of $300 million in political advertising. However, the political spectrum has tended to focus on traditional outlets cable and national TV, radio, and print to argue party messages.

We saw last fall that political machines from both parties used the Web mainly as a conduit for fund-raising. Online advertising was ignored as an alternative to shape public perception, said Peter Hershberg, managing partner of search engine marketing firm, Reprise Media. Hershberg, whose firm has created search marketing campaigns for companies including The Princeton Review, Guess? Inc., and People PC, believes that political marketers are becoming savvier as this intense battle for the Supreme Court heats up.

The enormous success of Google and Yahoo! proves that when the American public goes online, they turn to search engines to seek more information. Advocacy groups cannot afford to miss this chance to educate the public about the nominee for Supreme Court Justice and to drum up either support or opposition for that candidate, Hershberg said. This is a perfect opportunity for advocacy groups to practice Opportunistic Search Engine Marketing by tying a campaign into breaking current events that will inevitably drive search traffic.

He points to pro-choice advocacy group NARAL as one example of an advocacy group breaking out of the pack, even before President Bush has announced his choice. By buying keywords such as Supreme Court, this group is clearly trying to share its view point with interested, engaged voters and spark action from them. In the coming days, we expect to see more and more noise in paid search advertising as other advocacy groups jump-start their ad campaigns, he added.

While it remains to be seen how effective other advocacy groups will be in using the power of search marketing to educate their constituency, Reprise Media will be surveying the search landscape following Bushs anticipated announcement, watching for signs that the battle for the Supreme Court has moved from the airwaves to the Web. For additional commentary or to schedule an interview with Hershberg, please contact Sarah Coyle, SHIFT Communications, at scoyle@shiftcomm.com or 617-681-1245.

About Reprise Media:

Reprise Media helps companies significantly and profitably grow their businesses through Search Engine Marketing. Through the Reprise Process an innovative, proven combination of campaign strategy, methodology and management Reprise Media has delivered the value of search to a large and growing client roster, including companies such as Capital One, PeoplePC Guess? Inc, and Advance Internet. SearchViews (www.searchviews.com), Reprise Medias search-focused blog, provides a destination for marketers to find the latest news and commentary on Search Engine Marketing.

Reprise Media is headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco and Boston. For more information, Reprise Media can be contacted at 212.226.0697, or via the Web at http://www.reprisemedia.com.

Contact:

Anthony Iaffaldano
Director of Marketing
212.226.0697
anthony@reprisemedia.com

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