Metamend Announces Geographic Tagging for Web Pages

Metamend announces newest innovation in the field of search engine optimization. (SEO) Address extraction technology, extracts geographical data and tags web pages with GIS data for wireless search functions.

VICTORIA, BC - February 17, 2003 - Metamend announced today it has completed development of its newest innovation in the field of search engine optimization. (SEO) The company has succeeded in creating ground breaking, address extraction technology which can read a web site, extract geographical data, then determine if the web site has a relevant physical presence as well as an online one.

The technology is said to have a 99% accuracy rating on a city basis, when that information is present within the web site.

Once verified, the address can then be correlated with existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to produce a set of Latitude and Longitude Coordinates. Step two in the process will be the ability to code or "Tag" the actual source code of the individual web site with accurate GIS information.

Developed in part with assistance from the National Research Council of Canada's, Industrial Research Assistance Program.(IRAP) the new technology has attractive market potential for the wireless and hand-held sectors, specifically for any company providing location based services. Web pages tagged with the data will have the ability to be included within search engine results for goods and services sorted by location and proximity.

"For example," explains Richard Zwicky, CEO of Metamend, "Imagine getting off a plane in Rome, and deciding you want to go out for dinner. You pull out your wireless Internet device and type in 'veal parmigiano, 1992 brunello, and panna cotta'. Today, if you try that, you'll find one result in the whole world. Soon, with the advent of our new GIS tagging, once your website is coded properly, the search engines will be able to deliver results based upon the closest restaurant matching your request."

"There is an increasing demand for this type of location specific data, for any online business with a physical presence," continued Zwicky. "Advertising agencies, marketing firms and major players within the Telco industries can utilize this service to increase exposure for their clients. The power of those client's web sites as a marketing tool, has now been tremendously increased. It's a definite competitive advantage! Giving a web site the ability to be found through location specific or geographic specific services, certainly takes search engine capabilities and search engine optimization up a notch. Suddenly it's a whole new ball game. The marketing potential of this product is enormous. We are very pleased to be the first to bring it to market."

Apparently other respected Industry leaders are agreeing with Metamend's CEO. Tony Melli, President & CEO of First Gate Ventures Inc., and founder of Bfound.com, had this reaction to the news of Metamend's breakthrough. "The interesting aspect of this technology is that any business owner can easily have their existing web site tagged with location, by using Metamend's service. This will allow any business to be ready for location based look-ups on the web, and in the wireless world, without having to be part of an existing proprietary geo-spatial content database. Location tags in conjunction with relevant keywords will give the mobile user much better search results. Any business owner who relies upon a physical presence for their business such as banks, gas stations, restaurants, even coffee shops, will benefit from this service."

For more information regarding the new address extraction technology, contact Metamend directly or visit their web site at:
http://www.metamend.com/

About Metamend
Metamend specializes in the development and integration of automated search engine marketing and promotion technologies, strategies and solutions. Corporations, independent web site operators, hosting firms and leading e-commerce solution providers worldwide have implemented Metamend's innovative search engine optimization solutions.