December 2006

Users rate entertainment, create database of preferences

12/08/2006

Source: Boulder County Business Report

Author: BJ Richardson

BROOMFIELD - John Black, founder of NextFavorite.com, a privately held company based in Broomfield, launched his Web site in March with a two-tiered plan. First, he would create an online community of anonymous users who would rate the books, movies and music they've read, watched and listened to, which could then be used to generate personalized recommendations based on the collective input of users with similar interests.

Part two of the plan was to reach the point where retailers could tap into the aggregated data to gain an edge in marketing their products in a way that has been, thus far, cost prohibitive for smaller companies.

To accomplish this goal, NextFavorite.com would have to gather enough data to make it worthwhile for retailers to subscribe to his service. And that just happened with the books segment of the Web site. The movies are running a close second, and the music segment is taking slightly longer.

In October, NextFavorite.com began licensing its proprietary personalization technology and recommendation data and recently snagged its first major client.

"We are going through the technical due diligence and implementation process with an e-commerce company that has about $5 million in annual revenue," Black said. The company's identity was not disclosed. "This company has shown a strong interest in NextFavorite.com, and we hope to launch this venture early next year."

Within six months of initiation NextFavorite.com obtained more than 30,000 customers and more than 1 million product ratings. For e-commerce companies that subscribe, this equates to a healthy program for targeting consumers based on consumer tastes, rather than on the entertainment industry's marketing influences.

"E-commerce sites are measuring the number of visits to their Web sites versus actual buyers," Black said. "They know the competition is always just one click away." He estimates that, on average, less than 5 percent of online shoppers to any given site actually make a purchase.

October 2006

NextFavorite.com Helps Small Retailers Level the Personalization Playing Field

BROOMFIELD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NextFavorite.com announced today that it will begin licensing its proprietary personalization technology and recommendation data to book, music and movie retailers to provide their customers with the benefits of personalized product recommendations. NextFavorite.com anticipates the next product that a customer will love by matching them with their “statistical soul-mates” who are other customers who like the same things they do.

“Personalized product recommendations work,” said John Black, founder of NextFavorite.com. “Major retailers and web publishers have seen the benefits in terms of increased conversion rates and customer loyalty. As an example, NetFlix is currently offering a $1 million 'NetFlix Prize' to anyone who can improve on the accuracy of their movie recommendations. But few smaller retailers can match the resources of a NetFlix, Amazon.com or iTunes, so few have capitalized on the value of personalized recommendations. Now by sharing technology and data across multiple distribution points, NextFavorite.com levels the playing field.”

NextFavorite.com’s technology and extensive database allow any merchant – whether a large e-commerce site or a single-store independent retailer - to capitalize on the benefits of personalization. Participating retailers can tap into NextFavorite.com’s database of over 1 million book, music and movie ratings and, unlike many e-commerce sites that use customers’ clicks, searches or purchases to infer their likes and dislikes, all of NextFavorite.com’s data is based on actual user ratings.

Participating retailers can access the data via a private site created by NextFavorite.com which their customers can then access on any kiosk or Internet-enabled computer. NextFavorite.com also provides web services integration so that e-commerce sites can private-label the service.

“Retailers benefit from increased conversion rates, increased order sizes through recommending additional products catered to customers' specific tastes and improved research about product popularity and customer preferences,” commented Black. “NextFavorite.com is excited to partner with retailers interested in leveraging the active online community to help build customer relationships and, in the end, more sales.”

About NextFavorite.com

NextFavorite.com debuted in March 2006 as a free online community for personalized music, movie and book recommendations. NextFavorite.com acts as a personal shopper for the consumer, answering the question “what’s right for me” across books, music and movies. In the 6 months since its inception, NextFavorite.com accumulated over 1 million product ratings from consumers.

For more information, go to www.NextFavorite.com.

September 2006

IINet - iiNet is the third largest ISP in Australia and offers a variety of Internet and communication services

“NextFavorite is an online community for music, movie and book recommendations. Become a member and your ratings determine your likes and dislikes, matches you to similar customers and predicts the next book, movie or CD that you should buy. This should finally put to rest that ‘choose a book by its cover’ curse that I rely on so much."

Press Release

NextFavorite.com debuts online community for personalized book, music and movie reviews

BROOMFIELD, CO, March 17, 2006 -- NextFavorite.com (www.nextfavorite.com) launched an exciting, free web service today for personalized book, music and movie recommendations. NextFavorite puts the power in the hands of the consumer, not the marketer, by leveraging objective, word-of-mouth reviews. Unlike other consumer review sites, NextFavorite matches people based on similar interests, so you always know that recommendations are from people just like you.

NextFavorite provides several unique features that set it apart:

· Accurate books, music and movie recommendations

Bestseller lists are fine, if you like what everyone else likes. Critics’ reviews work if you share the same tastes as the critic. At NextFavorite, book, music and movie recommendations are driven by your “statistical soulmates”: other customers who like the same things that you do. It’s like having your own personal shopper who can predict your next favorite book, DVD or CD and let you explore beyond the mainstream.

· Community and Trust

All of the movie, music and book reviews on NextFavorite are from other customers. Not marketers trying to push their own products. Not professional critics. Just real people with real interests and opinions. It’s an ideal place to connect anonymously with people who share similar interests.

· The perfect gift, and the end of buyers’ remorse

Are your friends and family difficult to shop for? Not sure what books your Dad has already read? Get them to join NextFavorite and you can browse their recommendations to find the perfect gift. They get what they want, and you look like you put a lot of thought into it.

“With the overwhelming volume of marketing messages and the overwhelming product selection online, consumers need help deciding what to buy,” said John Black, founder of NextFavorite.com. “Many people have turned to customer review sites, which can actually increase confusion with all of the conflicting opinions on the same product. Who is behind those book reviews – an English professor or a high school dropout? NextFavorite solves these problems with accurate book, music and movie recommendations personalized to your specific tastes.”

NextFavorite.com is run by Relativity Network, Inc., a privately-held corporation based in Colorado.

Press Contact:

John Black

jblack@nextfavorite.com

720-339-8275