SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MarketWatch.com, an innovator in business news, personal finance information and investment tools, celebrates its 10th anniversary tomorrow, Oct. 30, and will mark the occasion this week with a special series of stories, columns and videos that revisit the companies, stocks and personalities that have captivated the markets over the last decade. The series, which can be found at MarketWatch.com's special reports section (http://www.marketwatch.com/newscommentary/specialreports), starts tomorrow with stories about the news on the day MarketWatch.com debuted, a survey of the hot companies that began to emerge in the Internet economy, and video memories from some of MarketWatch.com's brightest stars. Readers can add their voice by sharing their stories and investing experiences on the 10th anniversary page on MarketWatch Community (http://community.marketwatch.com/featured/anniversary.sync).
In a letter to readers being sent tomorrow, David Callaway, editor-in-chief, MarketWatch.com, recalls the major stories that have influenced the markets and pledges to preserve the site's spirit of innovation, which includes exploring new forms of coverage and analysis of market news that will include real-time analysis of breaking news and more attention to emerging and global markets.
"From the rise and collapse of the Internet bubble, Enron and the corporate-corruption scandals to the devastation of 9/11, the recession and then the subsequent bull market that has seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise to a new record, the stories have varied. But our mission has changed very little," wrote Callaway.
Callaway said in the letter, "The next 10 years promise more exciting times in the market and on the Internet, and we're sure to try 100 new ways to collect and distribute information, and to bring you readers into our community. But our dedication to getting you news that you can use, first and foremost, remains our top priority, as it has for a decade now."
"MarketWatch.com is the great winner in the Internet-era competition to create a new, high-quality financial-news brand on the web," said L. Gordon Crovitz, president, Consumer Media Group, and executive vice president, Dow Jones & Company, which acquired MarketWatch in January 2005. "The 100 MarketWatch journalists in 10 bureaus around the world join their colleagues at other Dow Jones brands such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's in the service of providing investors with the trustworthy news and useful tools they need to succeed."
History of Editorial Product Innovation
On Oct. 30, 1997, MarketWatch.com launched what was then known as CBS MarketWatch to offer stock quotes, market news and corporate information aimed at individual investors and business professionals. The service revolutionized financial news by making market-moving data, information and analysis that was once reserved for institutional investors and professional traders accessible for free to individual investors.
Over the years, MarketWatch.com has thrived as the most successful financial news site built as a multimedia product, integrating text, video and audio. In addition to producing a web site with unique features like live news and quote updates, and publishing successful newsletters like The Hulbert Financial Digest, MarketWatch.com produced and provided talent and content for the CBS MarketWatch Weekend television show. The MarketWatch Radio Network, established in 1999, currently provides live coverage of business news to nearly 19 million listeners per week.
MarketWatch.com has received numerous accolades for its coverage and analysis of market news. These include two EPpy Awards from Editor & Publisher magazine for best business web site, two awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for commentary in real-time news, and the Codie Award from the Software & Information Industry Association for best financial blog.
Growing User Loyalty
MarketWatch.com continues to register significant growth in user loyalty. The site is the industry leader in the financial news category for time spent, with nearly 23 minutes per user in September (source: Nielsen NetRatings).
"It's exciting that in our tenth year we continue to see great growth in our audience because of our great content," said Jim Bernard, general manager, MarketWatch.com. "With new editorial products and innovative investor tools in the pipeline and MarketWatch Community getting great traction, this is an opportune time for advertisers to take a fresh look at our engaged audience."
History of Advertising Innovation
Since its inception, MarketWatch.com has established itself as an innovator in online advertising, pioneering ad units and techniques that have since become standard practice. Among MarketWatch.com's advances:
* Dayparts (2001) - The site became one of the first in the online financial news category to sell daypart advertising targeted towards specific parts of the day, such as mornings or afternoons. For example, ads for alcoholic beverages were targeted to appear on Friday afternoons in time for the weekend. * Intro message (2002) - MarketWatch.com pioneered this method of presenting site visitors once a day with an introductory advertising message, including Flash animation, for several seconds before revealing the underlying content. The intro message is widely used by marketers of consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals and entertainment, among other products and services. * Embedded video (2003) - Since online video first emerged four years ago, MarketWatch.com has offered the ability to serve video from within a standard 300 X 250-pixel unit in a regular rotation. This has proved popular with technology, automotive and financial services advertisers. * Broker button (2006) - MarketWatch.com's expandable broker button is a signature unit for the site and popular with stock brokerages advertising on the page where users look up stock quotes (http://www.marketwatch.com/quotes/quotes.aspx).
"MarketWatch.com has brought a can-do approach to conceiving and producing smart, attention-getting solutions to help advertisers stand out in front of a market-savvy, influential audience without interrupting the user experience. It's that attitude and sensibility that keeps clients coming back," said Brian Quinn, vice president of advertising sales, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
Community Input
MarketWatch.com users can share their experiences investing in the markets over the last decade by posting comments on the 10th anniversary page on MarketWatch Community. Readers can add their views on the events that impacted markets the most, recount their most memorable stories of investing in the markets, and identify their favorite MarketWatch.com articles.
About MarketWatch
MarketWatch, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, is a leading innovator in business news, personal finance information, real-time commentary and investment tools and data. The Company generates more than 1,000 headlines, stories and market briefs a day from 100 journalists in 10 bureaus in the U.S., London and Hong Kong. In addition to operating two award-winning Web sites, MarketWatch.com and BigCharts.com, as well as the stock market simulation site, VirtualStockExchange.com, MarketWatch provides radio updates every 30 minutes on the MarketWatch.com Radio Network and offers subscription products for individual investors, including the Hulbert Financial Digest suite of products, Retirement Weekly and ETF Trader. The Company's MarketWatch Licensing Services group is a leading licensor of market news, data, investment analysis tools and other online applications to financial services firms, media companies, wireless carriers and Internet service providers.
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