Adknowledge Monetizes Trailblazing Anime Virtual World

Super Rewards' Diverse Ad Offer Inventory and Global Reach Help Power Monetization Solutions for Virtual Worlds


SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - July 20, 2010) - Casual Connect -- Adknowledge's Super Rewards, a leader in monetizing virtual currency for online games, today announced it has been selected by GCREST America to deliver virtual currency monetization solutions for its popular TinierMe virtual world. GCREST America, maker of some of the world's most successful online games, is using Adknowledge's Super Rewards offer platform to maximize revenue and improve user experience by rewarding gamers with additional points, virtual goods, or virtual dollars in exchange for completing high quality offers.

TinierMe is a virtual world with free-to-play games that allows casual gamers to explore the culture of Japanese anime comics, which is increasingly popular among young Americans. Within the TinierMe world, users can create their own avatar, dubbed a "Selfy," to play various games, chat with others, and even participate in various events that follow the Japanese festival calendar, such as the Cherry Blossom Festival. 

"We are very excited to partner with GCREST, who provides a unique and highly engaging experience with the use of anime in TinierMe," said Jason Bailey, general manager of Adknowledge's Super Rewards social currency division. "We understand the unique needs of virtual world publishers, particularly those in Asia looking to expand into the U.S. Our diverse ad offer inventory, global reach, sophisticated fraud protection and management, customization options, and top-notch customer service are all very attractive for game publishers who need to maximize revenue and enhance the overall user experience."

Adknowledge's Super Rewards allows online game publishers to incorporate a monetization platform as a seamless component of their games. Players can earn in-game points by completing a survey, watching a video, or subscribing to online services that are of value to them. The advertiser offers generate revenue for publishers. Adknowledge then converts non-paying players into revenue-producing users. The company's comprehensive offer targeting and filtering system ensures that the right offers are presented to the right players at the right time -- all while delivering the best possible user experience.

"Adknowledge's targeting expertise empowers us to present the most relevant advertising offers based on our users' behavior. Our users get rewarded with free game currency by participating in highly interactive and rewarding offers, while providing GCREST with a very reliable revenue stream," said Masaru Ohnogi, CEO at GCREST America.

Adknowledge's deep understanding of the gaming industry is also showcased in its sophisticated fraud protection systems. Fraud protection is a serious concern for many gaming and application publishers. To address this issue, Adknowledge's Super Rewards uses a combination of advanced proprietary systems, internal reviews, and its partnership with industry-leader ThreatMetrix to create a robust fraud protection system. This three-prong approach enables Super Rewards to identify suspicious activity and remove fraudulent activity before it reaches publishers. With its 11 global offices, an expanding advertising operations team that acquires localized offer inventory on a country-by-country basis, and ad inventory that spans across 50,000 advertisers, Adknowledge's extensive international reach (approximately 30-40 percent more global users and advertisers than its competitors) is a key factor that attracts leading game publishing partners like GCREST America.

About Adknowledge and Super Rewards
Adknowledge, the fifth largest advertiser marketplace, utilizes powerful predictive technology to connect advertisers with consumers across multiple channels, including Social, Email and Web Content. Adknowledge has grown to be the largest privately held advertiser marketplace focused on high-quality alternatives to traditional search engine advertising. Over 50,000 advertisers use the Adknowledge ad network to promote their offers. In the past two years, the company has acquired Hydra Group, Super Rewards, MIVA, and Cubics. Headquartered in Kansas City, Adknowledge has domestic offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Florida, and international offices in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Adknowledge's Super Rewards is a leading provider of monetization solutions for online games and social networks. The Super Rewards "offer wall" delivers highly-targeted advertising offers to millions of global Web site and social network users. The platform seeks to maximize revenues for developers while allowing users to earn virtual currency in exchange for signing up for free products or trial offers.

About GCREST AMERICA
GCREST America, Inc. is the company behind TinierMe, and is a fully owned subsidiary of GCREST, Inc. who is a leading online entertainment company based in Japan. GCREST, Inc. was established in 2003 and has created many successful online games including Trickster, @games, and Barvillage. TinierMe, which is also published in Japan as @games, is a game portal owned by GCREST. The game has gathered more than 1 million active users in Japan. TinierMe is a brand new class of online game portal site, with communication functions that make use of a dynamic Flash avatar called a "SELFY."

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