Clearspring's AddThis Becomes the First Open Switchboard for the Web

AddThis Makes Unlimited Sharing Easy With a Smart Sharing Menu, New Service Directory With New Language Translations


MCLEAN, VA--(Marketwire - September 22, 2009) - Clearspring, maker of AddThis, the most widely used content sharing and bookmarking service on the Web, announced today the launch of its open Service Directory, which allows any social network, social bookmarking site or online tool to be listed on the network of AddThis menus across the Web. The Service Directory makes it easy for any social media site to join the AddThis network. During the month-long closed beta, more than 100 new social media sites were added to AddThis, including Posterous, Evernote, Netlog (Europe), Viadeo (France), Wykop (Poland) and Hyves (The Netherlands). Also, the AddThis sharing menu is now smart; it automatically displays the right services from the directory, using an algorithm that leverages user information, such as sharing history and preferred language. The Service Directory, coupled with this new smart menu, makes AddThis the first global sharing switchboard for the Web.

AddThis makes it easier for people to share the Web pages they find interesting. Publishers who install AddThis on their site increase distribution of content through users sharing to social channels like Facebook, Twitter and more. With this new change, publishers will get increased distribution of their content, as users will have more personalized sharing options.

New smart menu features will ensure each person's favorite services are presented based on their previous sharing history. Whether they are in New York and using AddThis to share to Facebook, or in the Netherlands sharing to Hyves, AddThis will automatically personalize their experience.

In addition, AddThis recently added a community translation program that allows any user to submit a new translation or a revision of the AddThis interface in their local language. Already, almost 30 new languages have been submitted, since the program was launched at the beginning of August. To learn more about this program or to add a new language, please visit www.addthis.com/languages.

"With such an enormous reach across hundreds of thousands of sites and hundreds of millions of users worldwide, joining the AddThis Service Directory was the best way for Netlog to quickly empower our users to share to friends in our community, from wherever they are on the Web," said Toon Coppens, co-founder & chief technology officer of popular European social networking site, Netlog. "By letting our users share from their favorite blogs and Web sites, we will strengthen our engagement and drive a better experience for our community."

The new Service Directory was prompted by the flood of incoming requests received by AddThis. Each day, the company received e-mails from people around the world asking for their favorite sites to be added to the menu. Even the largest of publishers with immense networks are interested in the potential for increased visibility, which AddThis offers through sharing.

"At AddThis, we see sharing as the heart of how people discover content online. Our mission is to enable users to share any content, to anyone, anywhere. With today's release, we've taken a giant step towards that vision as publisher content will now officially be able to go everywhere," said Hooman Radfar, chief executive officer of Clearspring, the parent company of AddThis.

If you are interested in adding your service to the AddThis menu, visit http://www.addthis.com/services. Statistics on total sharing numbers around the world can also be found there.

About AddThis

AddThis is the most widely used content sharing and bookmarking service on the Web. It helps website publishers and bloggers spread their content across the Web by making it easy for visitors to bookmark and share content to their favorite social destinations like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. AddThis is fast, powerful and easy to install. Even better, it's free and offers sophisticated analytics to help users understand how and where their content is being shared. Launched in 2006, AddThis has grown dramatically and is currently viewed over 30 billion times a month by users all over the world in 50 languages. The company was acquired in 2008 making Clearspring the standard for content sharing tools on the Web.

The AddThis service is used on over 400,000 websites including SAP, TIME Magazine, Oracle, Entertainment Weekly, Topix, MySpace, Squidoo, FOX Sports, CBS, WebMD, American Idol, the White House and many others.

About Clearspring

Clearspring is the leader in social distribution, connecting publishers and advertisers to audiences on the social Web. Clearspring's content sharing products, ranked No. 1 by comScore, enable publishers, developers and advertisers to easily distribute and track digital content such as widgets, videos, photos and links to the most popular destinations, including social networks, start pages, bookmarking sites, blogs, mobile devices and desktop platforms. The company provides additional distribution of content on a paid performance basis to the world's leading brands through a targeted social distribution network of affiliate partners. The company reaches over 534 million users worldwide. Its tools are served billions of times monthly and they power programs for many major brands and over 400,000 other long-tail developers. To learn more, visit www.clearspring.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Amber Harrison A&R Edelman (650) 762-2904 amber.harrison@ar-edelman.com

AddThis acts as the switchboard for the Web, seamlessly connecting people and content throughout the world.