Pronto.com Becomes First Comparison Shopping Service to Offer 'Social Shopping' Features to Help People Make Informed Buying Decisions

    NEW YORK, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Pronto.com(TM), an Operating
 Business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq:   IACI), today announced that it is
 the first comparison shopping site to enter the "social shopping" space
 with the launch of new community features that allow users to rate
 products, interact with other users, write reviews and gain insight from
 trusted peers and other like-minded shoppers.
     Already the Web's fastest growing comparison shopping site with over
 3.1 million unique monthly U.S. users, according to comScore, Pronto.com is
 changing the online shopping model by becoming the first to fuse comparison
 shopping with a full range of social features to help people make smarter
 buying decisions.
     Built on the Web's largest product index and propriety crawl
 technology, Pronto.com already provides consumers with access to over 70
 million products from over 65,000 online retailers directly on its Web
 site. With the launch of new social tools, Pronto.com has become the only
 comparison engine that helps shoppers weed through all of these product
 choices by allowing users to express themselves through the products they
 like, want and own, therefore helping others make better, more informed
 shopping decisions.
     "Traditional comparison shopping engines provide advice on WHERE to buy
 products, but do little to help users decide WHAT to buy. At the same time,
 existing social shopping sites fall short by relying on users to gather
 products from across the web for them -- which dramatically reduces the
 number of products available to the community," says Dan Marriott, CEO of
 Pronto.com. "The new Pronto.com combines the best of social software and
 product search into an online shopping community that has not existed until
 today so consumers can visit one destination for the most fully informed
 shopping experience."
     Pronto.com's new social shopping functionality includes:
 
     -- User Profiles -- Users can create personal profiles consisting of their
        favorite products, brands and stores as well as personal pictures and
        answers to profile questions.
     -- Brand and Store Level "Likes" -- Users can express their interest in
        particular brands and stores in addition to their favorite products,
        providing other shoppers greater insight into their tastes and style.
     -- Lists of Top Liked Products -- Users can quickly see the most popular
        products in a category based on the number of people who noted that
        they "Like" the product.
     -- Social Networking -- Registered users on Pronto.com can invite their
        friends to join their personal network so that they can share knowledge
        and opinions on products.
     -- Peer-to-Peer Messaging -- Users can communicate with each other via
        private messages to discuss products, brands and stores.
     -- Local Filtering -- Users can track the hottest trends in their city by
        searching the most "Liked" products by region.
     About Pronto.com
     Pronto.com (http://www.pronto.com) is the Web's most comprehensive
 social shopping engine. Thanks to patent pending Web search technology,
 Pronto.com's product index contains over 70 million products from over
 65,000 online merchants, which is five times the merchants of most leading
 comparison-shopping engines. Named as "Best Online Price Comparison Site"
 by Kiplinger's, Pronto.com has a team of experts in technology, Web search,
 consumer products, and social media working to create a world-class social
 shopping experience. Pronto.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of
 IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq:   IACI), which operates Ask.com, Citysearch,
 HSN, LendingTree, Match.com, Ticketmaster and more.
     About IAC
     IAC operates leading and diversified businesses in sectors being
 transformed by the internet, online and offline... our mission is to
 harness the power of interactivity to make daily life easier and more
 productive for people all over the world. To view a full list of the
 companies of IAC please visit our website at http://www.iac.com
     Pronto.com Public Relations, Press Only:
     media@pronto.com
 
     Kendra Thornton
     773-525-6110
 
     Brandon Warburton
     212-915-3849
 
 

SOURCE Pronto.com