Banks.com Acquires Leading Online Tax Extension Site FileLater.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banks.com, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BNX) (the "Company", "Banks.com"), operator of financial services focused media properties announced today it has acquired FileLater.com, a leader in the online tax extension industry and a portfolio of tax-related Internet domains.

"The acquisition of FileLater and its portfolio of tax-related domain names fits like a glove with our go-forward strategy and makes us a dominant player in the online tax extension industry," said Dan O'Donnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Banks.com, Inc. "In addition to providing us with a proprietary platform, we will now own three of the top 10 URL's in the Google algorithmic search listings for the term 'tax extension,' which is among the highest converting of all tax-related terms. This additional organic traffic, together with the traffic we generate through IRS.com, should generate meaningful revenue in the upcoming 2011 tax season."

The Company also announced that it had secured $600,000 in financing through a sale/leaseback transaction with Domain Capital of Fort Lee, N.J., and an additional $100,000 in debt from the Company's CEO. "We are very pleased that we were able to secure additional working capital as well as the funds necessary to complete this acquisition," continued Mr. O'Donnell. "This is a critical step in our evolution towards a more sustainable model in online personal finance and my investment in the Company to help facilitate our acquisition of FileLater is indicative of my personal commitment to achieving that goal. In addition, the sale/leaseback transaction has allowed us to monetize an intangible asset on our balance sheet while we continue to enjoy the upside value of those assets and all without the need to dilute our current shareholders."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations, are generally identifiable by the use of terms, such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "meaningful," "intends," "may," "plans," "possible," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "should," "would" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding: management's expectations regarding the impact of the acquisition of FileLater.com on the results of the upcoming tax season, our success at maintaining our ranking in the Google algorithmic search results, our position in the online tax extension industry, the conversion rate on the search term "tax extension", our overall business strategy, management's expectations regarding our growth and the outlook for our business. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those either stated or implied. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied herein include, among others, slowdown in the online financial services vertical; market acceptance of the Banks.com website; introduction of additional competitors in the online personal finance vertical and the Internet search services space; diversion of advertising dollars away from the Internet; slower than anticipated growth rate of our advertising base; changes to the algorithms of Internet search engines, dependence on our search providers to continue to provide us paid search services; market development of Internet advertising and paid search services; the stability of our infrastructure; and continued weak economic conditions. Further information on the factors that could affect our financial results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Except as required by law, we assume no responsibility to update these forward-looking statements publicly, even if new information becomes available in the future.

About Banks.com

Banks.com, Inc. operates Internet media properties that provide targeted online advertising and services primarily in the financial services sector. Through the Banks.com network, the Company provides access to financial content, including financial news, blogs, business articles, interest-rate tables, stock quotes, stock tracking and financial calculators. It also provides users access to financial services, including free online tax preparation and tax extensions through the Banks.com Tax Center and online stock brokerage through MyStockFund.com, its online broker-dealer subsidiary. In addition to Banks.com, it operates other search related websites including Look.com. Banks.com, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California at 222 Kearny Street, Suite 550 and can be reached at 415.962.9700.

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SOURCE Banks.com, Inc.