New York — October 23, 2009 — Online Intelligence, Inc. (OI), a wholly-owned monitoring and protection subsidiary of Epic Advertising, today announced a set of new and innovative tools to drive automatic fraud prevention and monitoring.

These SaaS tools are used by OI to examine sources of traffic through proactive Web crawling. By monitoring ad campaigns in real time, OI quickly identifies dangers such as malware, incentivized traffic, negative keywords or off-brand ad placements.

"Epic Advertising's Online Intelligence division delivers unparalleled protection and fraud prevention for our thousands of clients to maintain the integrity of each brand," explained E.J. Hilbert, Online Intelligence's President.

Don Mathis, Epic Advertising CEO, added: "With development of these new tools and urgently-needed technology, we are increasing fraud protection measures while reinforcing our decade-long dedication to elite service for advertisers and publishers."

OI's Admin Interface arranges both proactive and reactive Web crawls of search, Web/display and email traffic. With Search Interface, users make impromptu queries against crawled or indexed pages based on traffic or other criteria. Violations Interface facilitates timely tracking and validation of violations found by said tools. With this offering, users write custom queries against scheduled crawls and violations that result from the queries are flagged and displayed automatically. Flagged violations are stored in a database, reviewed and acted upon immediately. Finally Site Watch allows OI to look at web sites to determine changes to a web page on an hourly basis, a tool particularly useful when comparing sites to ensure compliance changes are being maintained and brand infractions are not occurring.

For more information, log on to www.epicadvertising.com/onlineintel.

About Online Intelligence:
Online Intelligence (www.epicadvertising.com/onlineintel) provides proactive Web-crawling, spidering and brand protection throughout the entire advertising process, arming advertisers with transparency and traffic metrics. With this information, Online Intelligence protects clients from click fraud, negative keyword searches and off-brand placements. It builds on eight years of Epic's driving industry compliance and integrity procedures across their global network of more than 45,000 publishers.

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and over 45,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and targeted, worldwide online reach.

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We're taking another detour from our "Online Advertising 101" blog series to explain a hot topic among online advertisers, publishers and Internet governing bodies alike: Behavioral Targeting.

A broad explanation of this marketing technique is that practitioners collect non-personally identifiable information (PII), such as site browsing and searching activity, and select advertisements to present to the viewer based on this "non-PII" behavior. Behavioral targeting can be practiced by itself or in conjunction with other targeting techniques like contextual, geographic, or demographic targeting.

This practice is important to advertisers, publishers and ad networks simply because more non-PII information that is collected about the user's Web experience leads to more relevant advertisements being served to that individual. Proponents cite that this is advantageous for advertisers because it makes ads more efficient and intelligent, with a better likelihood for success. Ultimately, publishers can command a higher rate for their ad inventory on this basis versus ads which appear with no targeting or intelligence behind them.

For advertising networks like Epic, there is a multiplier effect. Collating data and using it across a broad range of affiliates and publishers gives ad networks a clearer demographic picture of many more users, faster, and provides them with better, more targeted ads.

For example, if I visit ESPN.com, click on a dating site featuring predominantly females, then visit a hunting site, one could potentially glean that I am a male who could be classified as a sportsman, who may also be single. Though there isn't 100% certainty of this, a network could begin serving ads that fit my potential profile and start to build a data file about what ads I respond to. As the process continues, the technology gets smarter about ads that might appeal to me, or might have the best chance to prompt an action, be it a click, sale or engagement.

The practice has not been without some controversy, primarily stirred up by advocacy groups concerned that this infringes upon user privacy. Ad networks (like Epic) are quick to counter these concerns through education, and in pointing out that data collected about a user is non-PII and that the technology driving behavioral targeting is predominantly "cookie-based"– whereby cookies are easily cleared or erased by the user. I should also remind you that it includes no personal data or identifying information about the user.

Those of us in the online advertising industry feel that the ability to better target advertisements serves to enhance the user's Web experience by eliminating any "noise" or annoyance from irrelevant ads. The ability to behaviorally target in a responsible way using data that does not infringe on a person's privacy is an example of the inherent benefits of the Web as a marketing platform and distinguishes it from other forms of media. Where other media cannot ensure relevance, the Web can.

Fundamentally, this point underscores the success of TiVo as an example which enables people to skip through the plethora of irrelevant, untargeted television ads.

We hope that this short summary has helped to clarify what behavioral targeting actually 'is.' It isn't a dangerous, invasive technology, but rather one that actually benefits the end user.

Michael Sprouse – Chief Marketing Officer, Epic Advertising

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Shoot the monkey! Lose weight instantly! Low APR loans, no questions asked!

No wonder there exists a stigma on the online advertising industry. And why wouldn't there be? With suspect tactics and shady subject matter, bad apples are ruining the Internet as an advertising medium.

Epic Advertising intends to change that.

To complement its performance-based advertising work, the New York-based direct online advertising company designed an entire department around fighting those bad apples –an in-house compliance team that deliberately scans and follows each of its campaigns for unethical practices.

Epic CEO Don Mathis spoke with SmartPlanet about what's smart — and what's not — in the Wild West environment of online advertising.

SmartPlanet: What does Epic primarily do?

Don Mathis: Epic is a global online performance marketing company. We believe that online advertising represents the future of advertising — it's a combination of direct response and brand awareness — where Madison Avenue meets the direct response community. The data really provides an opportunity to provide actual measurable results. The difference between performance and non-performance in the online sector is that we're held accountable to a strict measure. It's similar to a magazine ad campaign.

SP: What are the pros and cons to a performance-based approach?

DM: The pro to performance-based marketing is that it's becoming much more of a science and less than an art. People who are rising to positions of authority now tend to have a measured, statistical approach rather than a finger-in-the-air approach. It really turns the age-old marketing paradigm of "50 percent of my advertising is useless, my problem is that I don't know which 50 percent" — John Wanamaker said that — it turns that upside down. The con is the big challenge for people who believe strongly that building a brand is building an emotional connection to a product. The biggest criticism is that because it's so compelling and easy to count, the science-oriented approach might miss less quantifiable aspects. We have a patent pending on a metric which measures a lift in brand awareness, online and offline. Television is still the most powerful medium for connecting to a brand, but it's hard to measure.

SP: How has the economic downturn changed ad strategy across the different media?

DM: There are two simultaneous shifts — one is the shift from offline to online, which is offsetting the overall declines in total ad dollars spent. In that sense , I'm happy I'm here — and not in, say, radio. The second shift is fewer dollars spent overall — of those dollars in the online ad environment, fewer are spent on brand awareness and more are spent on performance-based [campaigns]. The reason is because [a performance-based approach] provides the best measure of the effectiveness of that spend, and in a world of very constrained dollars, you want to make every one count.

SP: You hear a lot about the shift of ad dollars from the print world to the digital. What's the outlook?

DM: The total amount of global ads spent online is a fraction of what's spent in all the offline channels combined. There's a disparity there, and we have this interesting situation because more people spend time online than anywhere else, and yet more dollars are being spent in old channels. That's a positive, because that shift that's taking place is dictated by history — the way things have been historically. Companies are trying to be smart about it and approaching it very carefully. Strategies are weighted with tradition. It's a generational change, and we're still in the process of coming terms with a new medium. As they get comfortable with it, the dollars will more roughly mirror consumers' behavior.

SP: How is Epic combating the stigma on the online ad industry?

DM: We're still very much in the first inning in terms of comfort with the online medium. There has got to be control of the brand, where the ad will be seen adjacent to the right content. There's an increasing level of comfort with transactions online, but there are threats out there to that that will take advantage of consumers. There's got to be more done about that through the entire ecosystem. The very openness that characterizes the Internet as a powerful medium also renders it defenseless against people with ill intent. It's about means of distribution — adware, spyware. fraudulent and terrible ad copy. It hurts the advertiser and it hurts consumers being spammed. If you had, say, a performance-oriented campaign for Verizon Wireless to sign up for FiOS [fiber optic broadband Internet access], it would be illicit if the publisher used an iframe [HTML element] to cloak the terms of that ad and dupe consumers into thinking it's free or a lower price than it really is. From our perspective, we put an enormous investment in [fighting] it.

SP: What are some ‘worst practices' in online ads?

DM: It's more about tactics that we wouldn't adopt: pop-unders and -overs, for example. E-mail marketing is difficult to police. We don't do this, and we're probably limiting ourselves. Co-registration, incentive marketing. We think all of that is in the category of sustainable marketing practices, and we probably forgo some revenue by not doing it. Most of it can be done legally and in a "white hat" way, but you're out of the realm of right and wrong and into the realm of potentially annoying to the consumer. We're going to take the long road. Some of this stuff can be done legally, but I don't think it can deliver a good customer to the advertiser. People are savvy. You need to cater to that savvyness. If you engage in switch-and-bait routines or any of that, people tune you out. The flip side to it is playing to the strength of someone being savvy. You want to say, ‘Here's what's great about this product and here's what you're going to pay for it.' A lot of marketers have the sense that you should hold back on something like a price point until the actual sale. We have a different philosophy: be upfront, pursue integrated campaigns — such as search AND display — and grab the right customer at the right moment. A lot of marketing techniques out there are lazy. They're relying on tricks of the trade — making that match between a person and an advertiser is really what we can do online better than anywhere else. It's much more difficult to do it elsewhere.

SP: What strategies work, then?

DM: Site-wide branding can be effective. There's also the question of whether it's done tastefully or annoyingly. The banner, the skyscraper, the footer, with a consistent theme — that's effective. But if the skyscraper blows up while I'm reading an article, I find that intrusive and annoying. This co-branding theme is sort of interesting. If you're looking at people who are really focused on old-world branded advertising being done in an online space, that's where the value of a co-brand might mean something. Take one of our clients, a large pharmaceutical company — our message to them is that they should find a person who's most interested in a particular drug, say for a specific allergy. You ought to target that person on his Facebook page or Yahoo! Mail or a blog he goes to, because that will be cheaper inventory than a premium site. That person will always be themselves, whether on a blog or a premium site. WebMD was rumored to be the most expensive ad space on the web last year. So why does our client insist on advertising there? Because they want to be associated with the WebMD brand, and that's indicative of that kind of tension. If you believe in free content that's ad supported, which we do, it depends on the consumer having a good experience with it.

SP: Tell me more about Epic's in-house compliance team.

DM: It's one part human forensic capability, and one part technology, making sure that distribution to copy is protected. We put so much into it, in fact, that we realized we could add value to third parties and level the playing field to the entire ecosystem. We've started doing that with the spinoff Online Intelligence, which is wholly owned by us but separately incorporated — and our first agent is a regulatory one: a state's district attorney office. The whole ecosystem has two halves: white hat and black hat, good empire and evil empire. There is a point in which we all share something in common, which means it matters to us what the black hats do. That commonness is the actual publisher itself. You can have a scammy advertiser or ad network — you normally wouldn't care, but they're buying inventory on sites that you'd also like to acquire, but you're blocked out of it because the guys breaking the rules are making a lot of profit. When the playing field remains that un-level, it really demand a cleanup. Everyone in this industry, this ecosystem, profits from that. At the end of the day, if we get it right, and others participate in the spirit of keeping the industry clean, everyone wins. If the Internet itself ever loses the confidence of the consumer, that has a tremendously traumatic effect on all of us.

SP: That seems to recall Epic's company slogan, "How the Web was won."

DM: We're happy to don the white hat and charge into battle if that's what it takes.

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New York — July 07, 2009 — Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), a leading global online marketing firm, today announced that Mark Jung has joined as Chairman of the Board. With more than 20 years of senior management experience in technology and interactive media, Jung will help steer the company's management and strategic direction in near-future growth and expansion opportunities.

Previously, Jung was Chief Operating Officer of Fox Interactive Media, where he was responsible for running the day to day operations of the company's Internet properties, including MySpace, IGN Entertainment, FoxSports.com and AmericanIdol.com. Jung was also CEO and Co-Founder of IGN Entertainment, which he led to an IPO in 2000. In 2005, Jung was responsible for IGN's sale to News Corp, Fox Interactive Media's parent.

"Mark's expertise and veteran status is what we sought for Epic's expansion in the online marketing space," explained Don Mathis, Epic Advertising CEO. "His proven track record is a tremendous asset to us and we are thrilled to be working with him."

"Epic has a very unique opportunity and is poised for its greatest success yet as it drives industry-critical initiatives in one of the few growth sectors in the economy right now," stated Jung. "I am happy to now be an integral member of Epic's stellar management team."

For more information, log on to EpicAdvertising.com.

About Epic Advertising
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company providing advertisers and agencies with actual measurable online advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and over 40,000 publishers, Epic provides advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media plan

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New York — June 30, 2009 — Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), a top global online performance marketing company, today announced the launch of wholly owned subsidiary Online Intelligence, Inc.

Online Intelligence provides proactive web-crawling, spidering and brand protection throughout the entire advertising process, arming advertisers with transparency and traffic metrics. With this information, Online Intelligence protects clients from click fraud, negative keyword searches and off-brand placements. This venture builds on eight years of Epic Advertising driving industry compliance and integrity procedures across their global network of more than 40,000 publishers.

Epic drafted E.J. Hilbert, notable compliance veteran and former director of Security Enforcement for MySpace and a counterterrorism agent for the FBI, to lead Online Intelligence. While at MySpace, Hilbert led a security initiative that reduced the amount of fraudulent and spam activities on the site by 98%, and with the FBI, E.J. investigated one of the largest computer intrusion cases in U.S. history.

"Founding Online Intelligence and this key hire reinforce Epic Advertising's global focus on compliance and integrity in advertising," said David Graff, General Counsel of Epic Advertising. "With our innovative, proven technology, we will drive clean, compliant and safe online advertising. E.J. Hilbert has an admirable track record, and we are confident he will lead Online Intelligence to great success."

E.J. Hilbert added, "Epic Advertising is steering online advertising in the right direction. The establishment of Online Intelligence is proof of the organization's long-term commitment to the most reputable online advertising. I look forward to working with clients to protect advertisers from the myriad of potential brand threats online."

For more information, log on to EpicAdvertising.com.

About Epic Advertising
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and well over 40,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display and Search consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through enormous internet reach, proprietary and patent-pending technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

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By PETE BARLAS, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS 06/23/2009 06:44 PM ET

When search-technology provider Vivisimo launched a consumer search site called Clusty in 2005, the Pittsburgh firm had no illusions of challenging Google (GOOG) or even Yahoo (YHOO) for search traffic or ad dollars.

Clusty, which features ads from Google, gets a cut of the ad sales generated by the search giant. But because Clusty ranks below the 10 most visited search engines in the U.S., that doesn't amount to much, says Jerome Pesenti, Vivisimo's co-founder and chief scientist.

"The consumer piece was never more than 10% of our revenue and today it's more like 5% or even less," he said, describing Clusty as more of a test bed for new ideas for its enterprise business. "I don't think we ever really intended to compete with Google or Yahoo."

Good thing he didn't.

In this recession, many small search companies have to find other ways to survive as companies reduce their spending on online ads.

These days, Google owns more than a 60% share of searches in the U.S., followed by Yahoo with about 20% and Microsoft (MSFT) with roughly 10%.

Many advertisers dismiss search engines with less market share as ineffective — especially as ad budgets shrink, says Greg Sterling, principal for Sterling Market Intelligence, a research firm.

"Even an engine that has a 2% or 3% market share is not going to justify a search marketer's time," he said.

When it comes to search, advertisers like to stick with name brands like Google and Yahoo and little else, says Michael Sprouse, chief marketing officer for Epic Advertising. The global online marketing company helps companies advertise online.

"Is would say that a pretty high percentage of our clients probably do the old bypass on the other guys," he said.

Most advertisers believe they can limit their search ad spending to Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask, a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), and still reach the bulk of the Internet audience, says Andrew Lovasz, vice president of search marketing for Moxie Interactive, an interactive marketing agency. The company also helps companies advertise online.

"We haven't reached the point of diminishing returns within those top four properties," he said. "There is more than enough (ad) inventory on those top four without getting into the second- and third- tier engines."

Four years ago Relevad, an enterprise search and ad services provider in Silicon Valley, launched a consumer search service called Releton to challenge other search engines for consumer traffic and ad dollars.

Most advertisers believe they can limit their search ad spending to Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask, a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), and still reach the bulk of the Internet audience, says Andrew Lovasz, vice president of search marketing for Moxie Interactive, an interactive marketing agency. The company also helps companies advertise online.

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New York, NY – June 23, 2009 – Epic Advertising won a Stevie Award for "Marketing Team of the Year" in The 2009 American Business Awards last night.

The awards were presented during ceremonies at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The ceremonies were hosted by Cheryl Casone of Fox Business Network and broadcast nationwide on radio by the Business TalkRadio Network.

In winning the Stevie, Epic Advertising beat out other finalists including Cessna and John Hancock. In accepting the Stevie, Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer, said, "We are incredibly proud and honored to have received this recognition against such worthy competition."

Stevie Awards were presented in over 40 categories including Best Overall Company of the Year, Executive of the Year, and Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year. More than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration.

More than 200 executives across the country participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and Stevie Award winners.

"As a first-time entry to the Stevie's this year, we are very humbled indeed to have received such a distinction," said Sprouse. "We take great pride in being a very small, yet powerful, team that is able to accomplish a great deal without zapping too many resources, both human and fiscal."

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists and Stevie Award winners are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.

About Epic Advertising
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and well over 40,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display and Search consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through enormous internet reach, proprietary and patent-pending technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Supporting sponsors of The 2009 American Business Awards include High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, LifeLock, RCN Corporation, Softpro, and Ultimate Software. Media sponsor is the Business TalkRadio Network. Localization partner of the 2009 Stevie Awards is Lionbridge.

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AdExchanger.com: How has Epic Advertising fared during the economic downturn? Please share any strengths or weaknesses you're seeing. What types of client campaigns are thriving - or not? How is creative evolving?

Don Mathis: Epic Advertising has fared well due to our fundamental performance-based economic model, which centers specifically on CPA, or "cost per action". Our clients only pay us when a desired action, such as a sale or a subscription, takes place. This is clearly a more desirable way for advertisers to market their products and services during a downturn, as they avoid upfront costs. Specifically, Epic is seeing strength in our Health & Beauty, Casual Gaming and Entertainment categories at present. The Entertainment category, for instance, is up 20% year over year, and Casual Gaming and Health & Beauty are up astronomically. Over the last 12 months, our creative team has expanded their scope with multivariate testing, new advertising formats, and new custom applications. The landscape is more dynamic, and is continuing to grow in this direction.

With performance marketing as its focus, does this hurt the ability of Epic to expand into the brand awareness budgets? How can brand awareness marketers use Epic today? Any real world examples?

Epic Advertising doesn't believe there has to be a split between performance-based and brand-based marketing online. Brand-based advertisers are beginning to understand that having more data at their fingertips and a better ability to target their audience actually helps drive brand awareness better and more effectively, while realizing stronger ROI. We work with many more traditional "brand" marketers now than we did a year ago. In this scenario, Epic is delivering branding through our massive reach and network of 40,000 publishers, in addition to ROI due to our performance model.

Given all the talk of current and future regulation, is the lead generation business dead? Valueclick recently reported a decline in its lead generation business and an uptick in display in Q1 2009. Does this mean there is opportunity ahead for display?

There definitely are opportunities for display now and into the foreseeable future, with the key drivers being better technology, targeting and data. Lead generation is a lot more strategic than it used to be and is still a very effective practice for many advertisers and networks. Thankfully, Lead generation is no longer synonymous with the "win a free iPod" days, and a properly-executed campaign can still be very effective.

Will real-time bidding (RTB) offer strong improvements in ROI or is it all hype in your estimation? Will Epic build RTB capabilities or work with partners?

Epic is familiar with RTB and some of the companies who have made strategic decisions to invest in it. We don't believe it's all hype, and in fact the byproducts of these enhanced capabilities are a faster and more efficient marketplace for online media buyers. This is positive for the entire online advertising ecosystem. Epic is currently evaluating the "build" or "partner" question.

Azoogle is your well-known affiliate business. Are ad exchanges "good" for the affiliate business? Why? Any challenges?

We don't view ad exchanges as competitive to our efforts or inhibiting us relative to our publishers. It is another tool for affiliates and networks to use in order to obtain inventory. The volume of networks and exchanges speaks to the tremendous amount of web inventory and the potential to tap into the inventory in a wide variety of ways and techniques. We're somewhat agnostic in terms of how we get inventory for our advertising clients and exchanges are certainly one aspect. There are many industry related challenges. There is confusion among advertisers and agencies trying to decipher differences between networks and exchanges. There needs to be a great deal more education.

Do you think ad networks and online marketing companies such as Epic have the potential to disintermediate media agencies? Is Epic working with direct advertisers today? If so, which ones?

We don't believe companies like ours will replace or sidestep media agencies. At Epic, we in fact work collaboratively with agencies as well as directly with advertisers. Clearly, there are a lot of advertisers who are clients of major agencies, and are expanding further in the online medium. We want to be there to help agencies handle those requests from their clients. For advertisers not represented yet, yes, we work quite effectively with them too. A few of our clients we work direct with include Netflix, IAC, Real, and Match.com just to name a few of the hundreds.

Are view-through conversions applicable in Epic's business? Or is the last click still the only click that matters? How is Epic solving attribution for its clients?

Epic has invested quite a bit in this area. Late last year, we announced our own patent-pending solution called pCPM, which means performance CPM. Our competitors call this "view-through" or "engagement mapping". We're focusing on this because attribution for advertisers is increasingly complicated yet important. What we aim to do with pCPM is to score any and all factors surrounding an online ad campaign beyond impressions, clicks or actions. Epic will continue to hone these technologies on behalf of our clients as the demand for clearer attribution increases.

Many publishers feel ad networks and exchanges create channel conflict and diminish the value of their inventory. In your estimation, beyond hiring a yield optimizer, what can publishers do today to improve their yield - i.e. revenue potential?

It has been documented that a handful of publishers feel this way,and feel that networks and exchanges are the cause of the diminishing value of their inventory. The right way to look at it, though, is if a publisher has excess inventory or inventory that simply can't be sold, which today is largely the case. In this scenario, they probably had 1) an inflated view of the value of their inventory to begin with or 2) improper means or resources to sell it. Simple supply and demand economics is starting to bring inventory values into line. Networks and exchanges fill a necessary, and growing, void in the marketplace. At Epic, we feel it would be wise for publishers to work closely with networks to improve ROI, as networks have more advanced optimization technology and a wider array of advertisers and advertisements for publishers to choose from. Overall, networks can often offer etter and faster analysis and measurement.

Is placement and context still important? Or is it all about audience in online media buying and selling?

This is the crux of what differentiates online marketing from other traditional ad platforms. Epic is beginning to see an online shift, with advertisers now taking a more audience-centric approach versus a site-or ad placement-approach. We firmly firmly believe in the importance of reaching the right audience for advertisers first and foremost -- in the most efficient and economical way, supporting advertisers' sales and branding goals.

To read this interview on AdExchanger click here.

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New York, NY – May 20, 2009 -- Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) was named a Finalist today in four categories in The 2009 American Business Awards, including "Management Team of the Year", "Marketing Team of the Year", "Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations" (for their corporate website), and "Best Home Page" (for their corporate website home page).

The American Business Awards are the nation's premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit entries to the ABAs – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.

Stevie Award winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 22 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Six-hundred executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend. The ceremonies will be broadcast on radio nationwide by the Business TalkRadio Network and hosted by Cheryl Casone of Fox Business Network.

More than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Most Innovative Company, Best Management Team, Best New Product or Service, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program, Best Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program.

"We are proud and honored to be recognized as Finalists in four categories in this year's Awards," said Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer for Epic Advertising. "Being designated as a finalist is an important achievement for us, and is consistent with the work we have done to distinguish ourselves in an ultra-competitive sector. We would like to congratulate all the finalists for their terrific achievements and look forward to honoring them on June 22."

Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs will select Stevie Award winners from among Finalists in final judging that will continue through June 3. Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April through early May.

"Despite very tough economic conditions, many organizations and individuals continue to perform well," said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. "The results of the 2009 ABAs thus far are a testament to the resilience, creativity, and hard work of American organizations, executives, and workers."

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.

About Epic Advertising
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and over 40,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, and branded marketing campaigns with a targeted, worldwide reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display, Search and Social Media consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through its enormous internet reach, technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Supporting sponsors of The 2009 American Business Awards include High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, Lifelock, RCN Corporation, Softpro, and Ultimate Software. Media sponsor is the Business TalkRadio Network. Localization partner of the 2009 Stevie Awards is Lionbridge.

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WILMINGTON -- May 19, 2009 -- The Performance Marketing Alliance (PMA) is pleased to announce that Epic Advertising has joined as a corporate charter member. The PMA is a new professional organization representing performance marketing professionals. As a charter member, Epic Advertising will be instrumental in funding and participating in the formation of the organization. Charter membership is a two-year membership, and includes a vote for the charter board of directors, and the opportunity to run for a charter board seat.

"Epic Advertising is an innovator and leader in performance marketing, and we're thrilled to have them on board," said Rebecca Madigan, founder of the PMA. "Their team has supported our formation efforts with recruitment, and provided guidance to our ongoing grass-roots efforts in a variety of areas."

"Becoming Charter members signifies that we think it is fundamentally important for online performance marketing, in particular, to have stronger leadership as the industry continues to grow," said Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer for Epic Advertising. "Performance marketing is an increasingly critical component of online advertising, and an important one as most advertisers and publishers have come to understand. We see immense value for us and everyone involved in performance marketing to get behind a professional organization whose goal is to provide a stronger and more unified voice."

Individual and corporate Charter membership is open through June 1, 2009. For more information, visit www.performancemarketingalliance.com.

About Performance Marketing Alliance
The Performance Marketing Alliance, Inc. is a new industry association for performance marketing professionals. The goal of the Performance Marketing Alliance is to raise the visibility and credibility of performance marketing. Members include industry leading advertisers, publishers, networks, agencies and solution providers.

About Epic Advertising
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and over 40,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, and branded marketing campaigns with a targeted, worldwide reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display, Search and Social Media consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through its enormous internet reach, technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

US Media Contact:
Anne Rothrocke
Project Coordinator
Performance Marketing Alliance, Inc.
anne_rothrock@performancemarketingalliance.com

Epic Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Senior Marketing Manager
Epic Advertising
cherilyn.earl@epicadvertising.com

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Dear Adotas readers,

My letter today could just as well be titled "Why Advertising is Not Failing on the Internet".

This letter is in direct response to an increasingly controversial post on a notable technology blog entitled "Why Advertising is Failing on the Internet".

The author in that piece draws on four major arguments to support his point about why internet advertising, today, is failing and will continue to fail. He says: People don't trust ads; People don't want ads; People don't need ads; and there is no shortage of places to put ads.

I disagree with his conclusions and the logic that supports them. I wanted to address these topics head-on, however, because perhaps you have all heard these myths, too, or had someone try and convince you of these assertions.

The facts (but not according to "vast literature" that the author repeatedly cites) are that online advertising is certainly not failing today and some areas of it are actually thriving and growing, and will present opportunities in the future for every player in the ecosystem.

The author claims that people don't trust ads. I'd like to see this literature and who wrote it. It begs the question: why, for decades, have companies poured so much money into advertising if so many consumers do not trust it? Advertising is as much about establishing an emotional connection and/or value proposition with a consumer, and successful advertising harbors trust. If advertising fails to establish that emotional connection or does not offer a value proposition, it fails. Because of the interactive nature of the web, it is actually easier to establish a connection with a target audience, and yes, there are companies successfully doing it today.

The argument that people don't want ads does not hold water either. Has the author watched the Super Bowl in recent years? Does he realize that even the worst performing ads on the web still get clicked? Just because people in front of a TV happen to turn the channel more often during commercials than during programming doesn't mean consumers don't want ads; historically, they might just not have wanted them at that very instant or they may not have been targeted properly. The internet through its measurability, by the way, helps solve this in a way no other medium can.

The author's point about people not needing ads is pretty subjective. I happen to believe people do need ads; to educate, inform, establish emotional connections with products or services, and engage with brands. If the author doesn't think that millions of kids who have bought Happy Meals at McDonalds didn't establish their connection through some form of advertising, he is mistaken. I'm living proof of that; I would say as a consumer, I have always relied on advertising and welcomed it.

That there is no shortage of places to put ads is true. There isn't a shortage. But this is what makes online advertising more effective and more efficient, creating a more powerful marketplace. It puts control back towards the advertiser, allowing the advertiser to come to market faster, pay only for performance, target customers better…all vast improvements over what one can do through offline media. More choice is better for everyone, in my book, and fosters innovation and creativity by publishers.

Why did I feel the need to respond to these assertions? Because the author's final conclusion is that over time online advertising will be "smaller than it is today". Perhaps many of you have heard these very same arguments from people, especially during this recession.

The fact is, many companies – like Epic and several others we know well and work with – are harnessing the web by making it more efficient and profitable for the entire advertising ecosystem, and creating better experiences for the consumer. When naysayers, who clearly exhibit little knowledge of online-specific ad topics, try and talk about how internet advertising is failing, it is simply incorrect. There are companies that operate entirely in the online ad ecosystem not named Google who are doing well even in this down economy. The viewpoints expressed by the author referenced above, and maybe by others, are incredibly short-sighted and inaccurate. I wanted to set the record straight.

We welcome you to contact us at Epic for more information on how to "win the Web".

Best regards,

Michael Sprouse
Chief Marketing Officer
Epic Advertising
michael.sprouse@epicadvertising.com

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March 19, 2009 -- Epic Advertising (www.epicadvertising.com) was named one of the worlds most effective rebrands in the fifth annual ReBrand 100® Global Awards. ReBrand 100 is the highest recognition for brand rebuilding and redesign in the business arena, and is the only global, juried program of its kind. Epic Advertising's rebranding encompassed an entire corporate website redesign which included added functionality, better messaging and use of technology and expansion of pertinent information. The rebranding occurred on the heels of the company's office renovation in New York City, which was completed in early 2008.

"With the value of branding no longer a secret, the world becoming borderless, and the rate of information travel unbounded, assessing brand distinction and leadership is no easy task. The range of excellence in this year's global pool was inspiring, and demonstrated the value of effective rebrands and the global commitment evident in solutions." said Thebe Ikalafeng, CEO of South Africa-based Brand Leadership Group and 2009 ReBrand 100 juror.

To select winners, jurors reviewed the work which was required to transcend cosmetic changes. In addition to specific review guidelines they followed, strong consideration was given to execution and strategies that made an emotional connection, and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified target market. In true democratic fashion, a one-person entity had as much opportunity to be selected as did global organizations, since jurors were unaware of the brand strategist's name and size when reviewing the projects.

Over 40 industries and 21 countries are represented among the 2009 winners. Some of the world's best known branding consultants such as Interbrand, The Brand Union, DDB Canada, and more competed, as did in-house teams, small agencies, and representatives of multinational corporations. The jury panel, new each year, consists of a multidisciplinary mix of prominent, international, industry experts. The 2009 panel of 10 included CEO for InterbrandHealth Jane Parker, Burt Helm of BusinessWeek, and Creative Director of Australia-based Principals, Simon Wright.

"I am thrilled for our company in receiving this well-deserved honor," said Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer for Epic Advertising. "When we re-branded the company and embarked on development of our corporate web presence, we had the singular goal of making the site itself the best, most informative, sleekest, easy-to-navigate B2B site in the industry. To have our names alongside some of the world's most respected brands speaks volumes about the job we did in achieving our goal."

Unique among other awards, "before" and "after" scenarios of each brand transformation are reviewed with details of the accompanying write-up on the approach. The rebrand could have been an enterprise-wide effort, a change in a single brand component, or a brand extension. Winning rebrands are showcased for inspiration and learning at www.rebrand.com.

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and over 38,000 publishers, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display, Search and Social Media consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through enormous internet reach, technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus), a 2008 Inc. 5000 company, and a 2009 ReBrand 100 winner.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

About ReBrand™ and the ReBrand 100® Global Awards:
ReBrand is the global, online resource for case studies on the most effective brand transformations: the repositioning, revitalizing, and redesign of existing brand assets to meet strategic goals. Featured in such media as The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, BusinessWeek, and Yahoo! Finance, ReBrand's leading program, the annual ReBrand 100® Global Awards, has entry deadlines in late September of each year. To view winning case studies or to learn how to enter, visit www.rebrand.com.

All trademarks, service marks and company names are the properties of their respective owners.

Press Contact:
Epic Advertising
Cherilyn Earl
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

For ReBrand™:
Andrea Walker
401.277.4877
evolve@rebrand.com

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New York, NY, February 24, 2009 -- Epic Advertising (www.epicadvertising.com), New York-based online performance marketing firm, today announced two key appointments within its executive suite. The announcement comes on the heels of a wave of recent positive news for the company, including the opening of its London office and strong 2008 revenue growth and business expansion.

The first appointment is the naming of Charles Nowaczek to the position of Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Mr. Nowaczek is responsible for Epic Advertising's global business operations, including product development, program management, Sales support, facilities and administration, and oversight of the organization's strategic and tactical initiatives. Additionally, he has successfully led the company's first-ever Management Training Program, which has resulted in other key employee promotions internally. Previously, Mr. Nowaczek was the Senior Vice President of Operations for the company, and has been with Epic since March 2006. He is based in the New York City headquarters.

The second appointment was the naming of Young Kim to the position of Senior Vice President of Finance. In this role, Mr. Kim is responsible for all aspects of the company's accounting and finances. Under his direction, he has overseen the group's improvements in operational, budget and process efficiencies, the implementation of new projects and the support of the company's international expansion. Previously, Mr. Kim was the Vice President of Finance for the company, and has been with Epic since 2005. He is based in the Toronto, Canada office.

The two appointments further solidify Epic's senior executive team following a successful 2008, and will provide further momentum to its prospects for further growth in 2009. The company sees the appointment of Mr. Nowaczek and Mr. Kim as crucial in its ability to maintain flawless organizational execution and commitment to its product growth and corporate strategy roadmap.

"We are extremely proud of both Charlie and Young for their dedication, commitment, and achievement," said Don Mathis, CEO of Epic Advertising. "They have each earned deep goodwill and respect from their peers, and solidifying these two well-deserved appointments was important overall for our company, covering its most important functions. We wish Charlie and Young well in their roles and have the utmost confidence in their contributions going forward."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 38,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed network AzoogleAds, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, San Francisco, and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Press Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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Dear Adotas Readers,

A few months ago, our CEO Don Mathis wrote a letter to this very same audience. In it, he wrote about the potential online marketing and media professionals have in 2009. He detailed some of the positive signs that exist in our industry. Of course, the macroeconomic news is not any better at this time than it was at the end of last year. But specifically, in our sector, what are we seeing and what can we expect to see the next few months?

We are very clearly seeing three major shifts taking place right now. These shifts, we expect, could be a little more permanent in their effects to the advertising landscape in general, and specifically in online advertising, compared to similar industry changes which may have occurred in the past. In relative chronological order:

The first is the movement of offline advertising dollars towards the online medium, which has been going on for a few years to some extent, but more recently has accelerated. There is no need to discuss the difficulty that most offline vehicles have had in securing advertising dollars; they've been well documented. As the calendar year changed, we've seen a more drastic migration towards Online with more and more advertisers and agencies seeing the inherent value in this medium in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, scale and better targeting capabilities.

The second shift we are seeing is in the "direct response movement". This is very closely tied to the economy at large and what is doing well right now. How many of you thought you would ever see an ad from a direct response advertiser during the Super Bowl? Or, during daytime TV on most all of the cable networks, ads for the latest direct-response products and gadgets? This shift is not only occurring offline, it is occurring online as well and is a more recent phenomenon over the past year. Historically, direct response advertisers have leveraged TV masterfully every time you see the label "As Seen on TV". Now, they're recognizing the inherent economies of scale in the online medium, too, and with an already built-in understanding of performance marketing (which most pundits, including us, believe will continue its positive momentum this year as we've seen in January).

The third development is the emergence of hybrid campaigns that include direct response and branding components. This movement is still in its infancy. These types of campaigns are starting to gain traction as more and more traditional brand advertisers need to show a better, more quantifiable return on their ad spend, grow and extend their brands, yet don't want to dive in head-first to the direct response pool, or necessarily compete directly with them. For advertisers and agencies that fit these criteria, the silver bullet is of course brand protection, with scale and advanced targeting. The good news is that this is all happening more rapidly than some people expected.

These developments should be reaffirming to Don's words two months ago, and a precursor to what we think we might see the first half of this year. For those partners we work with already, we look forward to continuing our success this year. For those we don't work with or haven't met yet, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation.

Sincerely,
Michael Sprouse
Chief Marketing Officer, Epic Advertising
michael.sprouse@epicadvertising.com

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London, England, February 10, 2009 -- Epic Advertising (www.epicadvertising.com), the privately-held, New York-based online performance marketing firm, today announced the official opening of its London office. The announcement follows recent news of the company's successful 2008 performance, impressive revenue growth, and the hiring of Rob Wilson in October 2008 as the SVP and General Manager of the company's European business.

"The global trend that we are seeing in performance marketing, not just in North America but in Europe, puts us in a very good position to execute in 2009," said Mr. Wilson. "It was very important for Epic to establish roots here in London, and to be able to hire talented employees to form the foundation of the company's worldwide growth. To now have our London office fully opened, staffed and operational is critical in our ability to execute right away in the 1st quarter."

Other key staffers in place in the London office include: Heidi Kinsey (Network Director), Jason Kilby (Director of Gaming Operations) and Anna Mazziotti (Office Manager).

The company said that the expansion into London was an opportunity created out of intense demand, as the UK market is currently the company's second largest revenue-producing territory, holding a lot of opportunity for advertisers and publishers alike.

"We have seen, even in the early stages of focusing our efforts in Europe, that the opportunity to expand our footprint in the global performance marketing industry in the UK is there," said Don Mathis, CEO of Epic Advertising. "The important first step of hiring a talented GM like Rob, and then putting key team members in place in a new office is now complete. We look forward to growing our presence in Europe even further under this team's leadership."

The address for Epic Advertising's London office is:
Amadeus House
Floral Street, Covent Garden
London, England WC2E 9DP
Telephone: 0207 812 7012
General Email: epicUK@epicadvertising.com

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 38,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed network AzoogleAds, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, San Francisco, and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Press Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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New York, NY, January 21 -- Epic Advertising (www.epicadvertising.com), the privately-held, New York-based online performance marketing firm, today announced strong 2008 results, posting core revenue gains of 29 percent over 2007. The company turned in a healthy 21 percent growth in Q4, accelerating to a 26 percent growth rate in December over the year ago period, in the midst of the starkly slowing overall economy and advertising marketplace. Profits increased apace with solid gains across key advertising categories. All growth came through ongoing operations, as the firm made no acquisitions during 2008.

"We believe 2009 is the year online performance marketing will take its rightful, and permanent, seat at the table alongside other major vehicles in marketing planning and execution, as the difficult environment drives advertisers to demand more from their marketing programs," said Don Mathis, Epic's CEO. "Strong growth in challenging times is gratifying and validates our performance-focused strategy, robust technology investments and hard work. But what's most important and compelling is the story behind the numbers, and what it foretells for our category."

Consumer products, insurance, entertainment and casual gaming were among Epic's standout categories, as recession-resistant marketers stepped up activity and consumers responded in kind. E-commerce and direct response-based offerings added a boost towards the end of the year and into early 2009, with the company recording record revenue days throughout early January. The company's performance is a function in part of Epic's broad, high-quality publisher network and proprietary, patent-pending technologies.

Mathis said marketers, agencies and analysts are increasingly realizing that the measurement of online marketing campaigns must go beyond clicks and traditional CPM measures, and towards what makes them most effective and scalable.

"There's a growing understanding that the real promise of Internet marketing is best unlocked by performance-based advertising – that is, thoughtfully calibrated and integrated campaigns, harnessing the power of search, display, and social media and leveraging brand awareness to drive superior customer acquisition," he said. "Such integrated campaigns need measurement tools that can capture awareness and response, and place the right value on that mix." Mathis said Epic is fine-tuning its patent-pending brand and performance measurement system that simplifies reporting for advertisers and continually optimizes campaigns based on usage and data.

Amid the bleak reports, positive signs remain for our industry. Most pundits think online advertising will continue to grow, even if at a slower pace. The shift towards performance marketing, as the need to make ad dollars work harder, will accelerate – and after all, that is what really separates online marketing from its offline counterparts. Search remains relatively strong, due to its measurable ROI. Emerging forms of distribution, such as social media applications, are proliferating and earning revenue. Even display advertising, as has been noted by several publications, has the potential for a comeback of sorts in 2009 despite some bad press (and declining CPM rates) in 2008. While everyone reading this will have a different opinion and a different market position, I hope that we can collectively agree that the opportunity to grow the entire interactive marketing industry in 2009 still exists … and there are very few industries right now that can legitimately claim this. We are indeed fortunate.

Mathis cited a recent Gridley & Company media conference that shined a spotlight on performance marketing's maturation and power. "There was a real sense among network executives, agency heads and other major industry players that while the current downturn in advertising may be cyclical, one of its effects – the rise and importance of performance marketing – will be an enduring legacy of this period," he said.

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

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Dear Adotas readers

We live in turbulent times, fraught with negative news. Global economic recession, bailouts, layoffs, the credit crunch, the housing crisis – these events have come to cast a black shadow over the landscape. Allow me, however, to suggest an alternate point of view with regards to 2009.

You all remember the early part of this decade with the "dot-com bust", 9/11 and corporate accounting scandals. Some of you remember the early 90's when we experienced a dip in the global economy as industrial production decreased. Some may even remember the recession of the late 70's and early 80's, along with the energy crisis, the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis, and the subsequent struggles with inflation.

In each instance above – and in every period of crisis the industrialized world has faced – we rebounded. Indeed, we have always rebounded, in large part because of our collective resourcefulness, skill, adaptability and intelligence. And it is these very traits that I believe will help us weather this new storm; the very traits that characterize a successful business in good times and bad, that we have honed in our own businesses as we have built them. We will all need to work hard to get to the far side of this crisis, but that is a good thing: it is easy to prosper when the rising tide lifts all boats higher. It is times like these that separate the well run companies from the chaff, and allow them to position themselves to substantially grow (and grow the industry) when the economy improves.

Moreover, we happen to be in an industry where hope is very much alive, and with it, a real chance to lend our resourcefulness to other sectors that may be struggling. Will our ability to generate hyper-growth again be easy? No. Is there still plenty of uncertainty out there? Of course. A now-infamous presentation given by a notable venture capital firm was entitled "RIP: Good Times". Even if you or your company had positive operating results, it would be the mark of extreme foolishness or perhaps insanity to declare your business recession-proof, or to not plan for more uncertain times ahead. But … there is opportunity, too.

Amid the bleak reports, positive signs remain for our industry. Most pundits think online advertising will continue to grow, even if at a slower pace. The shift towards performance marketing, as the need to make ad dollars work harder, will accelerate – and after all, that is what really separates online marketing from its offline counterparts. Search remains relatively strong, due to its measurable ROI. Emerging forms of distribution, such as social media applications, are proliferating and earning revenue. Even display advertising, as has been noted by several publications, has the potential for a comeback of sorts in 2009 despite some bad press (and declining CPM rates) in 2008. While everyone reading this will have a different opinion and a different market position, I hope that we can collectively agree that the opportunity to grow the entire interactive marketing industry in 2009 still exists … and there are very few industries right now that can legitimately claim this. We are indeed fortunate.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our publishing, advertising and agency partners for a great year at Epic in 2008, our best since our founding in 2000. We were truly humbled throughout the year to have had the good fortune to work with, and partner with, so many bright and innovative people and companies. We look towards next year with confidence and enthusiasm, knowing that the challenges will be great, but the opportunities greater. And we look forward to that journey in this amazing industry, where we have the opportunity to work with and around so many extraordinarily talented people.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season and great success in 2009!

Sincerely,

Don Mathis

CEO, Epic Advertising

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NEW YORK, NY – December 12, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online marketing leader, announced today that the Bazaar Advertising name, business unit and assets have been formally retired. Bazaar Advertising, the former San Francisco-based business unit that offered agency-like Search Engine Marketing services, had a portfolio of a handful of international advertisers which were phased out several months ago.

Epic Advertising continues to hold a strong presence in the Bay Area, with no staff reductions or changes to the current employee base associated with this announcement.

About Epic Advertising: Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and the over 38,000 publishers in AzoogleAds, its highly-acclaimed performance ad network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reac

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent Display and Search consumer web traffic. Epic scales its solutions through enormous internet reach, proprietary and patent-pending technology and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus) and a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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ADOTAS EXCLUSIVE – Mike Sprouse - Effective management can be the catalyst towards business growth, and ineffective management can lead companies down a path towards despair. We are seeing a lot of this with the rash of layoffs that has been occurring as of late, not just in this industry but across many others. This is not to suggest that all the recent layoffs are due solely to ineffective management.

But some companies have a mindset that human resources are expendable. No company is immune to this reactive thinking at a time of cutbacks. How can we collectively change this mindset, manage the people we do have, work to grow their careers all the while getting our companies back on the right track?

This topic is fresh on my mind, as our company is preparing to initiate an internal Management Training program, which will be the first of its kind. It highlights that as much as executives perceive our time as valuable, we feel management training is towards the top of the list of "time well spent" in building a sustainable enterprise that can withstand macroeconomic hardship. Recessionary times actually are the best times to undertake this sort of program.

I've developed my own "4 C's" for management. Some of them are probably nothing new. However, they have served me fairly well and perhaps you can adapt some of these. In tough economic times, a rock solid management organization across all levels of the company holds even greater importance. You can tell more about people, and companies, when they are faced with challenges rather than when the sun always shines upon them.

Before I get to the list, managers and high-level executives need to understand that it is a privilege to be in a position to manage – and lead – people. The act of managing is not for everybody; managers at any level of an organization are expected to be leaders in their own way. I've studied successful leaders throughout history and analyzed what makes them tick. A caveat, of course, is that some of the greatest thinkers or entrepreneurs don't necessarily make good leaders or managers, and that is okay too. We can learn from failures as much as success stories.

Competence (leads to Respect)
Managers at any level have to be highly competent and highly skilled at their job. I'm sure we've all had at least one manager who we felt was "clueless about the business" or "didn't know what to do" or worse "didn't have any insight into our daily tasks". In other words, before you can be a good manager or executive, you have to do your job better than anyone. If you don't know the marketplace or can't set strategy for your own division or group, how do you expect to grow and develop other competent people? Take care of your business first so that you can be the role model that others depend on for insight and direction. Know the marketplace. Know key internal resources and pressure points. All of this will lead to creating an environment of respect for you with your employees. An extra note here: I've long lived by the doctrine of hiring and fostering people who were better than me in their day to day jobs. (Astute observers might say that's not hard to do!) Hiring and mentoring the best people does not mean you get to be lazy or incompetent. In fact, it means you as a manager need to raise your game more.

Clarity (leads to Achievement)
In some informal research, I found the best managers communicate and lead, and set employee's expectations, very clearly. Some of the managers I've known who reportedly have gotten bad marks are ones who do not communicate or articulate the groups, or individual employee's, short-term and long-term goals. As we get towards the time when most companies do year-end performance reviews, make sure you are clear and concise with feedback, a "vision" for the team, and importantly a vision for each individual. This is especially important in today's climate. High-level executives typically drive performance evaluations; it should be understood that everyone else depends on them and depends on an open and honest form of praise, constructive criticism, and understanding of how their role affects the division or company's overall strategy - and how that might change over time. Take the extra effort to provide the right amount of clarity to your people. This means more work for you, since basic human nature is to simply assume that people know what to do themselves, but the extra work is well worth it and your employees will thank you for it by being able to perform better. Clarity feeds into a manager's true job, which is to act as an "enabler" for people. In other words, enable people to better do their jobs by eliminating fuzziness.

Confidence (leads to Decision-Making)
If you've successfully checked off the first two items, focus on confidence. Managers need to be confident in their decisions and actions every day. However, what I'm referring to is more about instilling that same confidence you have, in your workers' day-to-day business decisions. If you've prepared people properly, and communicated clearly what their goals are, then the table is set for great things to be achieved by pushing decision-making "down" and providing the necessary level of support for employees to make their own decisions. Time and again, otherwise great companies have gotten stuck because the decision-making authority resided in only one or just a few people's offices. This is poison, and some highly-regarded companies are getting pinched now because of it. For a company of any size, centralizing every decision is not only ineffective but paralyzing. It is also not healthy for a business in any kind of dynamic or creative industry which relies on thought leadership to thrive. Instead, the goal should be to instill confidence in people's ability to make their own decisions quickly and decisively. This does not mean encouraging half-baked decisions. But it does recognize good people who know their goals and the organization's goals perfectly and that sometimes they can probably make the same decisions you would have made anyway.

Courtesy (leads to Trust)
For some, this might be the one that conjures up a spirited debate. Courtesy, for managers, does not mean getting walked on, does not mean kissing behinds, and does not mean allowing things outside the normal course of people's job responsibilities. Rather, it refers to being a true professional and understanding that the beauty, and challenge, of being a manager and leader is that every single person is different. People act differently under different situations. Personalities need to be dealt with in a wide variety of ways. The common thread in all of these situations is the need to be courteous. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is ages old, but highly applicable. Who wants to work in an environment with people who aren't courteous or who communicate in a snippy, unprofessional manner? Not me.

Books have been written about what management style is most effective: the iron fist or the laissez-faire. I've found that a centrist mentality is even more effective. Rulers with an iron fist, in my experience at least, tend to act this way to cover up inefficiencies in the company or as a way of expressing frustration sometimes for their own inadequacy. High-stress economic times typically exacerbate inefficiency. However, if you can check off the first three items above, it reduces your own emotional burden and allows you to deal with people in a courteous, transparent and professional manner. The single most important trait between manager and employee is trust, and courtesy leads to trust. If you act in your employees own best interests, and truly do seek success for them, there will be a level of trust built over time that is powerful to shake, even in the worst climate. Companies challenged by the economy, and most every one of us is, will only get through this rough period by utilizing all of its resources to the fullest – and the most valuable resources are people.

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NEW YORK, NY – October 27, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the privately held, New York-based online marketing leader, today announced strong September results, posting seven percent and 14 percent gains, respectively, in revenue and profit over last September. In an environment marked by tightening budgets and consolidation, the performance marketing company's publisher and advertiser bases experienced robust growth.

Epic also announced its participation in ad:tech New York, from November 3-4, at the Hilton New York. The annual gathering is the industry's premiere digital marketing event, providing brand advertisers, agencies, portals, online publishers and technology providers a forum to exchange ideas. Epic (Booth #804) will showcase its industry-leading performance ad network business, and demonstrate its new iMobilePublisher, the first iPhone application enabling publishers to monitor critical performance data like cost per click, total clicks and payment history, in real time, wherever they are.

CEO Don Mathis and other key Epic personnel will be on hand both days to discuss the new platform and the company's recently announced London expansion, and to give their take on interactive marketing's prospects in a tight-money environment.

"We are working hard to continue our growth with calculated, responsible investment that our clients have grown accustomed to from us during these tighter times," Mathis said. "In a tough economic environment, performance marketing should get a closer look by advertisers needing to make every dollar work harder and looking for true accountability and transparency. Our leading targeting and technical infrastructure, as well as our global scale and reach, help advertisers achieve precisely that."

The company will thank its clients and partners at an ad-tech-timed party at Marquee Night Club. The November 3 event will benefit the Thomas Blake, Sr. Memorial Cancer Research Fund and is invitation-only until midnight.

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending technologies, and the over 38,000 publishers in AzoogleAds, its highly-acclaimed performance ad network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

Contact:
Laura Dempsey
The Dowd Agency
212.686.7777
Laura@dowdagency.com

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NEW YORK, NY – October 23, 2008 – The Azoogle Ad Network (www.AzoogleAds.com), a division of the New York-based online marketing leader Epic Advertising, announced today the successful beta launch of its new iPhone Publisher Reporting Platform, iMobilePublisher. The beta launch represents the latest in a string of successes stemming from the company's Product and Technology teams, and will initially include a small number of trusted publishers.

"We have found that our publishers increasingly use iPhones, and so this product was born out of marketplace opportunity," says Greg Bayer, Senior Director of Product Management for Epic Advertising. "We wanted to build something that makes life even easier for the publishers that work with us, and we strive to deliver innovative tools to them which set us apart from other networks."

iMobilePublisher provides publishers in the Azoogle performance ad network the ability to check all facets of marketing campaigns including payment history, leads, stats, clicks and effective CPCs. The easy-to-use interface also allows the publisher to sort by offers and a variety of date ranges, with a well-designed presentation and user-interface that can display data in graphical format. The platform also works on the iTouch with a wireless internet connection.

The platform is free to Azoogle publishers and will be downloadable at iTunes shortly. Rollout and expansion to Azoogle's publisher base is expected in early 2009 with enhanced functionality. Product demos and promotional giveaways will take place at Affiliate Summit West (http://www.affiliatesummit.com/09w_conference.php) beginning January 11, 2009, where the Azoogle Ad Network is also the Platinum Sponsor.

"From a technology standpoint, our team is committed to supporting the ever-changing needs of our worldwide publisher base," says Rick Okin, Chief Information Officer for Epic Advertising. "Our world-class technology team takes pride in staying a step ahead of our closest competitors in terms of product innovation and first-mover status, and we look forward to getting feedback from beta publishers prior to rollout and adding a whole new set of cool features."

About the Azoogle Ad Network:
The Azoogle Ad Network (www.AzoogleAds.com) is a division of Epic Advertising, the global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 38,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed network, the Azoogle Ad Network provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing ROI and worldwide online reach via transparent display and search consumer traffic.

The parent company of Azoogle, Epic Advertising, has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus, July 2008) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

The Azoogle Ad Network and Epic Advertising are headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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London, England - September 22, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online marketing leader, announced today that it has appointed international online marketing veteran Rob Wilson to the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe. Mr. Wilson will be based in London, England, and will start his new post on October 16, 2008.

In his position at Epic Advertising, Mr. Wilson is responsible for the further development and general strategic oversight of the company's European-based businesses. He will also oversee all operational facets of the European-based division, including office expansion and staffing, as well as strategic oversight and P&L.

Prior to joining Epic Advertising, Mr. Wilson served as Regional Director for the US and UK markets for Zanox, a performance marketing company headquartered in Berlin. During his tenure at Zanox, Mr. Wilson maintained full P&L responsibility for the company's English-speaking markets, and was critical in growing the UK market dramatically within a year. Additionally, Mr. Wilson championed several operational improvements including implementation of a revised set of Key Performance Indicators and a management restructure, while also leading a project team for the company's Search Engine Marketing business.

Prior to Zanox, Mr. Wilson held several notable posts during his career. Most recently, he was the Managing Director, Europe for 24/7 Real Media, possessing full P&L responsibility over its European businesses. Previously, Mr. Wilson was the Director of Editorial & Customer Operations, Europe, for Yahoo! Search Marketing, where he was responsible for the creation, growth and continuous management of YSM's European operations center. His impressive career also includes positions with Lexmark, One Direct and Guardian Direct Insurance. Mr. Wilson graduated with Honors from the University of Teesside in the United Kingdom, with a BA in International Business IT.

"Rob brings over a decade of experience in international business, sales, marketing and operations to our company," said Don Mathis, CEO of Epic Advertising. "He has effectively combined strategic management skills with a proven track record of innovation and the rapid development of online and media businesses. He is a perfect fit for our company as we build upon our European presence and continue our journey towards being a dominant global player in the online marketing industry. We are fully confident Rob will help to lead this area of our company's expansion and we're excited to have him on our team."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 35,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed Azoogle Ad Network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus, July 2008) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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New York, NY - September 16, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online marketing leader, announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Don Mathis to be Chief Executive Officer. Mathis is based at the company's headquarters in New York, NY. As CEO, he is responsible for the strategic vision and overall management of the enterprise.

"We are pleased and extremely excited to name Don Mathis as CEO," said Brian Conway, a director of the company and a Managing Director with TA Associates, a global private equity firm with a significant investment in Epic Advertising. "Based on his outstanding leadership and extensive industry knowledge, we believe Don is the ideal choice to continue to grow Epic Advertising well into the future."

Prior to being elevated to the company's top leadership role, Mathis was the President and Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure as President, Epic Advertising rapidly established an impressive trend of highly profitable business growth and expansion, evolving quickly into a recognized worldwide leader in online performance marketing. Mathis was originally hired in 2005 as the company's Senior Vice President of Operations and Technology.

A seasoned executive, Mr. Mathis has a wide range of experience in online media and technology, as well as the offline sector. His prior experience includes having served as COO of the first online fantasy sports company, Small World Sports, helping build that company into one of the top destination sites on the Internet and ultimately selling it to Vulcan Ventures and merging it with The Sporting News. His experience also includes serving as an operational restructuring advisor for the turnaround firm AlixPartners and as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company. Mathis began his career as a programmer and technology consultant with Accenture, and graduated with honors from Harvard Business School and Vassar College.

In addition to his civilian experience, Mathis also served as a Naval Officer, most recently as a mobilized reservist following the 9/11 attacks, when he served as the Executive Officer of an anti-terrorism joint task force. He was later designated Deputy Group Commander for all Navy expeditionary logistics forces in Central Command (the Middle East). Mathis began his Navy career as a P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft Flight Communications Officer, and he served with the United Nations in Cambodia and Bosnia.

"I'm incredibly honored, and humbled, to have been appointed CEO," said Mathis. "The company has come so far in such a short period of time in 2008, recording sizable growth and tangible results in the face of a broader economic slowdown. It is a real testament to our talented Executive Team and entire staff. From my perspective, it has been energizing to be a part of our transformation this year into a well-recognized, worldwide marketing powerhouse. I'm thrilled to be CEO, and look forward to our continuing achievements this year and beyond."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 35,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed Azoogle Ad Network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus, July 2008) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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New York, NY - September 2, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online marketing leader, has appointed Keith Duncan to the position of Senior Director of Agency Sales. Duncan will be based at the company's headquarters in New York, NY.

In his position at Epic Advertising, Duncan is responsible for overseeing agency sales efforts and forging key strategic partnerships with agencies of all sizes. He will manage current relationships with key agency contacts, as well as the development of new agency business partnerships.

Prior to joining Epic Advertising, Mr. Duncan served as Account Director for the Consumer Products Category at Yahoo! During his tenure at Yahoo!, Mr. Duncan was responsible for maintaining a regional territory for Global Fortune 500 brands and strategizing with senior executives from digital agencies to drive more revenue and effectiveness to their online businesses. Under his direction, the business portfolio increased 50% year over year and included work on such prominent brands like Subway, Heineken and Pizza Hut. In 2007, he was named "MVP" at the Yahoo! National Sales Conference.

Prior to Yahoo!, Mr. Duncan was the Regional Sales Manager and Major Account Executive at HotJobs.com. He holds a Biology Degree from the University of Delaware.

"Attracting someone with Keith's expertise from an online powerhouse such as Yahoo! and proven success with large accounts and agencies is a perfect strategic fit for us," said Brett Lofgren, Senior Vice President of Global Advertising Sales. "Our largest growth opportunities have recently been, and will continue to be, through Fortune 500 brands. We can deliver our uniquely effective marketing solutions and broad range of competencies, which our competitors don't have, to these types of partners. Keith will ensure agency partners are serviced even more efficiently, rapidly and effectively than today. We're incredibly excited at our impressive growth trend in 2008 and are confident this trajectory will soar even higher with Keith handling the Agency business."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 35,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed Azoogle Ad Network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus, July 2008) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based industry leader in online performance marketing, has been named to the annual Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Epic Advertising joins a select group of companies identified by Inc. for this award. Epic has realized a four-year growth rate of 118% on a high revenue base (in the nine figure range in 2007). With revenues significantly higher than all but eight other companies in the "Advertising and Marketing" sector of the Inc. 5000, that growth rate is all the more significant.

"We are thrilled to be named to this prestigious list for the first time in our company's eight year history", said Don Mathis, President of Epic Advertising. "For Epic, this milestone acknowledges that while growing rapidly as a small company is admirable, the real challenge is maintaining a high growth rate after passing $100 million in revenue, which we did last year. We have achieved this by focusing on building a world-class enterprise, honing and expanding our core business model, and maintaining consistent, year-over-year growth. Our selection to the Inc. 5000 list affirms the success we have achieved on behalf of our top-tier advertisers and our 35,000-plus publishers."

Epic Advertising's ongoing success has positioned it as a dominant, global performance marketing company, connecting advertisers from all over the world to highly targeted online consumers through display advertising, via the Azoogle Ad Network, its award-winning performance-based ad network; and through its performance search agency business. Epic's distribution comes from its vast display "reach" and through high-performance search marketing.

"This recognition resulted from years of focused commitment to providing online marketing solutions to our advertisers and publishers that are second to none," said Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer of Epic Advertising. "We have the 9th highest 2007 revenue base out of the 362 companies ranked in the ‘Advertising and Marketing' sector of the Inc. 5000 competition. We have received numerous accolades this year including this most recent one, and they all emphasize the strong, sustainable growth driving our robust business."

The 5,000 companies that made the list reported aggregate revenue of $185 billion and median three-year growth of 147 percent. Most important, the 2008 Inc. 5000 companies were engines of job growth, having created more than 826,033 jobs since those companies were founded. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies that can be sorted by industry and region can be found at www.inc5000.com.

"Our second annual Inc. 5000 continues the most ambitious project in business journalism," said Inc. 5000 Project Manager Jim Melloan. "The Inc. 5000 gives an unrivalled portrait of young, underreported companies across all industries doing fascinating things with cutting-edge business models, as well as older companies that are still showing impressive growth."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 35,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed Azoogle Ad Network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning, branded marketing campaigns and a targeted, worldwide online reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance and compliance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

The company has achieved several industry accolades, including being named an AlwaysOn Global Top 250 Company as one of the top private companies in the world, a comScore top-50 ranking in internet reach (Ad Focus, July 2008) and being named a 2008 Inc. 5000 company.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

About Inc.com:
Inc.com, the daily resource for entrepreneurs, delivers how-to guides, advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multi-media to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses. Inc.com offers dynamic marketing solutions to help advertisers effectively reach Inc.com's audience of business leaders. Visit http://www.inc.com.

About Inc. 500 | Inc. 5000 Conference:
Each year, Inc. magazine and Inc.com celebrate the remarkable achievements of today's entrepreneurial superstars — the privately held small businesses that drive our economy. The Inc. 500|Inc. 5000 Conference brings together members of the Inc. 5000 community—both a new class of Inc. 5000 honorees and the list's alumni—for three days of powerful networking, inspired learning, and momentous celebration. For the first time ever, this powerful networking event is open to all. Please join us September 18-20, 2008 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information or to register, visit www.Inc500Conference.com or call us at 877-211-0489.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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New York, NY - August 18, 2008 – Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online performance marketing company, announced today that its performance display ad network division, the Azoogle Ad Network, has been ranked the 28th largest ad network domestically (48th largest web property overall in the "Ad Focus" report) for July 2008 by comScore, Inc., the industry leader in online audience measurement. This placement ranks Epic among the very top for specialty or niche ad network players, and within range of the largest horizontal ad networks – while only counting a portion of Epic's overall traffic, with the rest coming from search via its performance search business. The company's monthly reach through the Azoogle Ad Display Network now spans more than 40 million unique visitors a month. July marks the first time the company or any of its business units have been publicly ranked by comScore, Inc.

Epic Advertising is a dominant, global performance marketing company, connecting advertisers from all over the world to highly targeted online consumers through display advertising, via the Azoogle Ad Display Network, its award-winning performance-based ad network, and through its performance search business. Epic's traffic comes from its vast display "reach" – as counted in the comScore report -- and through high-performing search marketing.

"These results are very positive for us and highlight an important piece of our compelling overall growth story in 2008," said Michael Sprouse, Chief Marketing Officer of Epic Advertising. "Our reach via display advertising in the U.S., as these rankings indicate, coupled with the reach numbers we track internally through Search, show a position of strength in the global online marketing ecosystem to the tune of over 22 billion ad impressions served per month worldwide. We are becoming a growing force in providing advertisers and agencies with a wide range of effective marketing solutions, whether through display, search, social network monetization, text ads, video advertising, pCPM and more. We don't just buy impressions; rather, we ensure our marketing and targeting efforts across all platforms are tailored to each client individually."

About Epic Advertising:
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com) is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary and patent-pending contextual and behavioral targeting technologies, and the over 35,000 publishers in its highly-acclaimed Azoogle Ad Network, Epic provides its advertising partners with performance and direct response marketing services, media planning and a targeted, worldwide reach.

A pioneer in both the online performance marketing industry and in Internet advertising integrity assurance, Epic Advertising brings an intense focus on achieving the highest ROI yield for its advertising partners via transparent display and search consumer traffic. Epic scales its solutions by leveraging vast quantities of data, enormous internet reach and unparalleled industry expertise.

Epic Advertising is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

Contact:
Cherilyn Earl
Epic Advertising
212.308.8509
Cherilyn.Earl@EpicAdvertising.com

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