Nextag Launches Travel Comparison Shopping With Multisite Search For Hotels As Part Of New ServicesShopping(SM) Expansion

Broadest Comparison Shopping Offering Helps Online Users Save Even More and Addresses Likelihood That 58% Will Visit a One-Stop Comparison Shopping Site for Online Shopping

SAN MATEO, CALIF | NexTag, Inc., one of the leading product comparison shopping sites, today announced it has moved into comparison shopping for travel with the launch of its MultiSite Search for hotels.

SAN MATEO, CALIF | NexTag, Inc., one of the leading product comparison shopping sites, today announced it has moved into comparison shopping for travel with the launch of its MultiSite Search for hotels.

NexTag’s MultiSite Search provides travelers the ability to compare room rates offered through participating hotels, online travel agencies and hotel merchants, including some of today’s most popular online travel brands. NexTag’s unique display provides real-time room rates for a specific property from multiple distributors in an easy side-by-side comparison in order to help shoppers find the best price for specific hotels, based on their arrival and departure dates.

NexTag’s move into travel is part of its expansion into ServicesShoppingSM to offer consumers the ability to shop and compare prices on more products and services than currently available through any other comparison shopping site. NexTag’s new ServicesShopping capabilities also offer comparison shopping for mortgages, cars, real estate and online education programs.

The services expansion complements NexTag’s popular comparison shopping for products. Over the last year, NexTag.com has grown to become one of the most-visited comparison shopping sites with 10.6 million monthly unique visitors1 – a 138% increase over last year, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

“We have designed NexTag ServicesShopping to help shoppers save even more time and money,” said Purnendu Ojha, President and CEO of NexTag. “There are comparison shopping sites for products and comparison shopping sites for selected services. NexTag.com is the only comparison shopping site for both products and most of the popular online services.”

NexTag ServicesShopping addresses a growing consumer interest to utilize comparison shopping sites to find the best deals. According to a recent Harris Interactive Poll, 58% of online users said they are likely to visit a comparison site that could help them shop and compare prices on just about everything they buy.

“As the online shopping industry grows year over year, NexTag has continuously been one of the top comparison shopping sites throughout 2004", said Heather Dougherty, senior Internet analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Its strategic move to offer comparison shopping for services is wise as these new verticals continue to drive significant opportunities online.”

At the core of NexTag’s unique comparison shopping platform is its proprietary Search And Match technology (SAM) that quickly scans millions of offerings from thousands of merchants and service providers to match a consumer’s specific shopping criteria. NexTag has developed and customized SAM beyond product shopping to specifically address the needs of shoppers who want to compare products, prices, as well as terms from mortgage lenders, travel providers, auto dealers, real estate agents and online universities. The result is a highly specialized technology platform that helps shoppers to quickly find the best deals available through leading online merchants as well as offline service providers.

Other NexTag’s comparison shopping categories include:

  • MORTGAGES – Through one easy form, mortgage shoppers are quickly matched with up to four lenders from NexTag’s nationwide network of leading mortgage lenders.
  • CARS – Through one easy query that uses zip code and preference matching, NexTag shoppers can obtain competitive price quotes from top auto dealers in their area.
  • REAL ESTATE – Prospective homebuyers can use NexTag to be quickly matched with top local real estate agencies that can help them to buy or sell a home. NexTag also helps people considering selling their homes by providing a free home valuation service through local real estate agencies.
  • ONLINE EDUCATION PROGRAMS – NexTag now helps people to quickly compare and apply for dozens of educational programs from online accredited colleges and universities.

Online travel agencies and other distributors who would like more information about NexTag’s MultiSite Search for hotels should contact NexTag at [email protected], or call 650-645-8765.

ABOUT NEXTAG - NexTag.com is the leading comparison shopping site for products, mortgages, travel, cars and more. The company’s proprietary Search And Match technology (SAM) helps shoppers quickly compare prices for products and services. NexTag's highly qualified traffic and performance-based pricing makes it an extremely efficient sales channel for thousands of retailers, service providers and individuals. Launched in 1999 by two Stanford graduates, Purnendu Ojha and Rafael Ortiz, NexTag is a privately held company based in San Mateo, California. For more information, go to.

  1. Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, September 2004, Home and Work traffic to NexTag parent

NexTag is a trademark and "ServicesShopping" is a service mark of NexTag, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners

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