PR Newswire today announced the availability of a Web widget that enables online users to easily integrate news and video distributed by PR Newswire into their own home page, blog or Web site.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000306/PRNLOGO )
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/prnewswire/28758/
The PR Newswire Widget is powered by technology from Clearspring, the leading provider of cross-platform widget services, and is compatible with all leading blog, customizable homepages and social networking sites. A Web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based Web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget).
"PR Newswire's Widget, available by clicking here (http://www.prnewswire.com/rss/), facilitates the viral distribution of our customers' content and, in the best traditions of Web 2.0, is truly user- driven," said Rod Nicolson, vice president, Online Services, PR Newswire. "No matter where a person finds the PR Newswire Widget - a Google directory, blog, Friendster page or a MySpace comment - they can 'grab' it for their own personal page, enabling them to access and share content at the click of a button, thus extending the reach of our customers' news to audiences with interests specifically aligned."
The PR Newswire Widget is compatible with iGoogle, Netvibes, Pageflakes, MySpace, Facebook, TypePad, Blogger, Freewebs, Friendster, Webwag and Windows Live, allowing bloggers, website hosts and individuals with social networking pages easy access to PR Newswire's feeds. The widget features scrolling breaking news, segmented in 30 categories from Automotive and Transportation to Venture Capital.
Each scrolling headline links directly to its matching press release on PR Newswire's public website, http://www.prnewswire.com/. This will allow visitors to read the full-text of the press release, while providing essential tracking data for issuers on the number of people who have accessed the press release on PR Newswire's website. The widget also enables users to access a feed of MultiVu digital videos, which can be launched through desktop media players.
"We are thrilled that PR Newswire, a global leader in news distribution to traditional and new media, investors and consumers, has chosen Clearspring to enhance its Web 2.0 strategy," said Chris Marentis, CEO of Clearspring. "The widget will enable a vast digital audience of journalists, bloggers, investors and business users to get real-time and relevant news releases issued over PR Newswire to their blog or online space. We anticipate that this will be the start of a continued relationship as we work together to innovate new ways to distribute news and information across the Web."
PR Newswire currently offers a number of social media elements on all text and multimedia press releases it distributes on behalf of customers. These include the ability to:
-- 'Bookmark' the press release in digg, del.icio.us, Newsvine, reddit,
and StumbleUpon
-- 'Blog it' by adding the release to a visitor's own blog hosted by
Blogger or WordPress
-- View blogs that are discussing and linking to a press release via
Technorati
-- Search Google's 'Blog Search' for additional mentions of the press
release
PR Newswire also offers search engine optimization for all press releases issued over any of its national newslines, and as an add-on service to all regional, local and specialty newslines. Further, with its keyword density tool, PR Newswire enables customers to make sure they have the proper number of relevant keywords to receive the best placement in natural search results.
"The PR Newswire Widget combines the resources of our industry-leading newswire with the simplicity of Clearspring's widget technology, providing the Web public with a dynamic, yet easy-to-use access point to breaking news from organizations around the world," concluded Nicolson.
About PR Newswire
PR Newswire Association LLC (http://www.prnewswire.com/) provides electronic distribution, targeting, measurement and broadcast services on behalf of tens of thousands of corporate, government, association, labor, non- profit, and other customers worldwide. Using PR Newswire, these organizations reach a variety of critical audiences including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers, and the general public with their up- to-the-minute, full-text news developments.
Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 11 countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries and in more than 40 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire's leading services include ProfNet Experts(SM), eWatch™, MEDIAtlas™, Search Engine Optimization, MediaRoom, MediaSense™, MultiVu™, U.S. Newswire, the preeminent policy newswire in the industry, and Vintage Filings, the fastest growing Edgar filing company. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.
About Clearspring
Clearspring provides tools to help developers, publishers, advertisers and media companies meet the challenges of the distributed Web where users want to make, find and share their own content and online experiences. Clearspring's tools transform content and applications into widgets, small contained applications that can be grabbed by users and personalized on their own Web sites. Clearspring widgets can be syndicated easily across multiple Web and social networking sites and Clearspring offers robust analytics to track the spread of widgets in real-time. Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., Clearspring leads the world in the global delivery of widgets, having delivered in excess of 4 billion widgets (check our homepage ticker!) to date. Clearspring customers include the NBA, Universal Pictures, the Indianapolis Colts and RockYou. For more information about Clearspring Technologies and how to use widgets in your business or to join its developer community, please visit www.clearspring.com.
What's A Widget? Learn more about widgets at: www.clearspring.com/widgets101/. Media Contact Information: Rachel Meranus Vice President, Public Relations PR Newswire 201.360.6776rachel.meranus@prnewswire.com Carmen Harris for Clearspring 202-350-6659carmen.harris@edelman.com
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PRN Photo Desk,
SOURCE: PR Newswire
CONTACT: Rachel Meranus, Vice President, Public Relations of PR Newswire,
+1-201-360-6776,