Consumer Reviews Drive Growth In Online Shopping

4 million consumer reviews make Ciao Europes 4th largest e-commerce website. Ciao, Europes leading network of comparison shopping portals, today reported a 90% uplift in site traffic year-on-year. This substantial growth reflects the vital importance of reviews in the online shopping experience.

Munich, (PRWEB) November 28, 2004 -- Ciao, Europes leading network of comparison shopping portals, today reported a 90% uplift in site traffic year-on-year.

This substantial growth reflects the vital importance of reviews in the online shopping experience.

On our websites, users can find all of the information they need in order to make an informed product choice." Ciaos Co-CEO, Fred Paul, commented: Ciaos unique strength lies in its user-generated product reviews. Shopping around on Ciao is like asking thousands of friends for their honest opinion before making a purchase. This is why Ciao offers such an effective platform for merchants and advertisers."

We all know how vital word of mouth recommendation is to the consumer experience," commented Fred Paul. This is what drives our site traffic. With nearly 4 million product reviews, Ciao provides consumers access to the worlds largest database of product reviews. Every week, some 10,000 new reviews, on average 300 words long, are contributed by Ciaos registered users. If all of the product reviews on Ciao were printed out on paper and placed back to back, they would stretch around the equator 30 times."

•   Ciaos traffic figures for the period January to October 2004, in comparison with the same period in 2003 have nearly doubled. Over the course of the last 10 months, Ciaos websites were visited by some 150 million users, compared to the 80 million visits registered last year. This represents a year-on-year increase of 90%.
•   Figures published by Nielsen//NetRatings show that Ciao, with 16 million visits and 80 million monthly page impressions, is now Europes 4th largest e-commerce website, following eBay, Amazon and Kelkoo.

Notes to editors
Ciao AG is a global media services company with two business units; Comparison Shopping and Online Surveys. The company operates high traffic consumer websites in Europes five key markets and offers worldwide access to millions of market research respondents, from which online surveys are carried out for the market research, media and consumer goods industries.

Ciaos Comparison Shopping portals are available Europe-wide in 5 languages under www.ciao.com. The portals comprise 4 million consumer reviews concerning products and services of all types as well as comprehensive price comparison information. Ciaos websites receive 16 million visits and 80 million page impressions per month, making Ciao the fourth largest e-commerce website in Europe and offering online shops and advertisers a highly effective marketing environment.

Ciao AG was founded in 1999 and currently employs 150 professionals in 7 locations in Europe and North America.

For further information, please contact:
Katherine Allan, Media Relations, +44 870 366 5257 katherine.allan@ciao-uk.com
www.ciao-ag.com

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