March 31, 2008

Explosive Internet Market in China Captured via IDNoptions Collaboration with Monster Venture Partners

Filed under: Domain Strategies, IDNoptions, MVP — admin @ 12:05 pm

IDNoptions Collaborates with Monster Venture Partners and Domain Strategies to Enable Entrepreneurs to Build Profitable Businesses in Asia on Premium Domains.

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IDNoptions, LLC (www.idnoptions.com), a leader in International Domain Name (IDN) acquisition, announced today an investment and strategic partnership with Monster Venture Partners (MVP), LLC and Domain Strategies, Inc. to expand and develop an industry-leading portfolio of IDNs and to build businesses on those domains.

Steven Epstein, CEO of IDNoptions, states that “the Internet and mobile community are on the brink of an immense eruption in China.” With nearly 1.4 billion people in China, Epstein predicts over 40% of the Internet’s content will be conducted in Chinese by 2011. Epstein’s company enables organizations to establish and expand their brands in Asia. His concept was confirmed by some of the world’s most respected Internet executives and China experts. His portfolio contains the Chinese equivalents of domains such as “greenbusiness.com, airlinereservations.com, and realestateloans.com.” There are over 2300 premium domains in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and Arabic in the IDNoptions portfolio (www.idnoptions.com/blog/domains).

In October, 2006, browser technology made Internet search for non-native English speakers easy. Epstein asks the question, “If the Internet had been created in China, would you search for news using Chinese characters?” The use of IDNs has been widely implemented by the Chinese government, large Chinese Enterprises and Fortune 100 companies like Procter and Gamble, China (http://www.idnoptions.com/blog) and GE, China.

When Robert Monster, Founder and Chairman of Monster Venture Partners and Domain Strategies approached Epstein with the possibility to build companies with IDNs, Epstein embraced the idea. This was an outstanding opportunity to diversify and grow IDNoptions by globalizing the domain development model pioneered by Domain Strategies for major properties such as Healthcare.com, Patents.com and Alerts.com.

Monster emphasizes that “IDNoptions is in the right place at the right time. The partnership with Domain Strategies will allow these raw domains to evolve quickly into high value properties that can be of immense utility to Chinese Internet users by leveraging Domain Strategies’ proven ability to secure top content as well as deliver this content in local languages.” Concurrent with the financial investment by MVP, Monster has agreed to assume the role of Chairman of IDNoptions.

Patrick Pun, Executive Vice President for Asia-Pacific of MVP, also serves the IDNoptions team as Executive Vice President for Asia-Pacific. Pun says, “The timing is perfect for IDNoptions to build the bridge to link multinational firms and their products and services with the powerful Chinese market. Category-defining domains present a great competitive advantage for those organizations by having rapid access to diverse Chinese markets, in not only Mainland China but Hong Kong, Taiwan, and throughout the world.” Pun is based in Shanghai and will be running the Shanghai operations of IDNoptions.

IDNoptions, LLC

IDNoptions, LLC (www.idnoptions.com). Located in Phoenix, AZ with operations in Phoenix and Shanghai, IDNoptions holds over 2300 of the finest IDNs that it licenses with consultative services, sells, and develops into valuable businesses.

Domain Strategies, Inc.

Domain Strategies (www.domainstrategies.com) is a pioneering leader in the field of Internet domain development. The company partners with domain owners, visionary entrepreneurs and smart capital to unlock hidden value in high quality Internet domain names.

Monster Venture Partners, LLC

Monster Venture Partners (www.monsterventurepartners.com), based in Seattle, is a new breed of early-stage venture capital. MVPs investment philosophy is to engage in a genuine hands-on partnership with founders to jointly create value for all stakeholders.

March 18, 2008

drugstore.com Launches Healthcare Provider Search Powered by HealthCare.com

Filed under: HealthCare.com — admin @ 9:00 am

MIAMI, FL and BELLEVUE, WA (MARCH 18, 2008) – HealthCare.com, Inc. , the leading online health care provider search platform, today announced the launch of its private-label care provider directory for drugstore.com, inc. (NASDAQ: DSCM), a leading online provider of health, beauty, vision, and pharmacy products. drugstore.com users will now be able to search the most comprehensive health care provider directory on the web, with over 1 million listings for medical and dental professionals, practices, facilities and health-related businesses in over 120 health and wellness-related categories including:

  • Medical specialists such as general physicians, pediatricians, oncologists, OB/GYNs, neurologists, urologists and over 45 other specialties.
  • Dental categories such as general dentists, cosmetic dentists, orthodontists, periodontists, and more.
  • Health facilities such as hospitals, clinics, surgery centers, dialysis centers and more.
  • Other categories such as chiropractors, psychologists, nutritionists and midwife services.
  • drugstore.com was a pioneer in health-related e-commerce, and is today one of the most recognizable brands on the web,” said Rob Monster, Chairman of HealthCare.com. “This partnership builds on that heritage. By incorporating HealthCare.com’s global directory of health care providers, drugstore.com’s users can not only shop for health-related products on the leading online drugstore, but also search for care using the world’s most complete database of care providers.”

    “At drugstore.com we are always looking for new ways to provide service and convenience in addition to competitive prices,” said Arvin Marchel, RPh, Director of Pharmacy Services at drugstore.com. “We believe this medical provider search solution is a valuable benefit for our pharmacy and over-the-counter customers and is an important addition to services we already offer such as the Drug Information Database, Drug Interaction Checker and Ask Your Pharmacist.”

    Consumers may find the new healthcare provider directory by linking from the drugstore.com pharmacy home page at http://www.drugstore.com/pharmacy or by going directly to http://www.drugstore.com/providersearch.

    About HealthCare.com, Inc.

    HealthCare.com, Inc. is a leading online health destination, providing health care content and tools that empower health seekers in their search for knowledge and care. The company’s consumer health offering is centered upon its web content portal, its health vertical search engine and its proprietary Care Provider Search. The Care Provider Search is the most comprehensive, complete and intelligent care provider directory on the web, which features over one million providers across the U.S. in over 120 categories, as well as providers in major medical tourism countries. For additional information, please visit http://www.healthcare.com.

    About drugstore.com, inc.

    drugstore.com, inc. (NASDAQ: DSCM) is a leading online provider of health, beauty, vision, and pharmacy products. Our portfolio of brands includes: drugstore.com™, Beauty.com™ and VisionDirect.com™. All are accessible from http://www.drugstore.com and provide a convenient, private, and informative shopping experience while offering a wide assortment of more than 30,000 products at competitive prices.

    The drugstore.com pharmacy is certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as a Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS) and operates in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations in the United States.

    Contact:
    Howard Yeh, VP, Corporate Development, Healthcare.com

    305-371-9724 or howard@healthcare.com

    Anne Marshall, Director of Public Relations, drugstore.com

    425-372-3464 or amarshall@drugstore.com