EPOPULI- FREE INTERNET SERVICE REACHES ONE MILLION VISIT MILESTONE

ePopuli (www.epopuli.com), the new free classified ad web portal focused on Latino community in over 33 countries and 115 cities throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, today announced that it has received its one millionth site visit. The website, which allows users to read the site in English, Spanish and Portuguese, reached this milestone with no advertising and purely by word of mouth in slightly less than four months.

“Like most successful Internet sites, ePopuli has the potential to be a very disruptive force, striking fear among newspaper execs who rely largely on classified ad revenue,” said John McKenna, CEO and founder of ePopuli. “Newspapers earned 36% of their 2004 revenues and a large chunk of their profits from classified ads and ePopuli is burning up that market.”

While the overall classified market in Latin America remains strong, events in the US market could offer a glimpse into what may happen in the region in the future. For example, in San Francisco alone, Classified Intelligence Report, an industry newsletter, found that the major newspapers lost between $50-$65 million in classified revenue in 2004 to online classified web sites such as Craig’s List.

CEO John McKenna added, “We consider ourselves a public service. We wanted to provide a no-frills online bulletin board where local residents performed down-to-earth, everyday tasks like looking for a job, a roommate, an apartment or a date. If we can make people’s life easier by helping them with everyday tasks such as these we will consider ePopuli a true success.”

Next for ePopuli is…

###