Travel Ad Network said Oct. 10 that it
signed a deal to become exclusive sales representative for RandMcNally.com,
the fourth-largest mapping and driving directions Web site.
The New York-based
company said RandMcNalley.com attracts more than 1.5 million unique
visitors to its site per month, which will help bring Travel Ad
Network a step closer to becoming the largest travel information
source in total audience.
"Rand McNally is an
industry leader in the mapping, routing, geographic reference and
trip-planning tool marketplace," said Cree Lawson, founder and CEO
of Travel Ad Network. "Without question travelers use the company's
vast online tool set to plan trips and locate destinations while
traveling. We are very pleased to have them in the network and
helping grow our reach to record size."
Rand McNally, a
heritage brand in the U.S. founded in 1856, is the largest
commercial maker of national, local and street maps and guides in
North America.
According to
statistics released recently by comScore, a company that tracks Web
site traffic, Travel Ad Network has already taken the lead as the
largest provider of travel news and information -- ahead of Yahoo
Travel -- with some 10.5 million unique visitors per
month.
Travel Ad Network,
formed by Lawson as a startup in 2003, provides an independent
sales force for some 50 Web sites, including Kayak, LonelyPlanet
and other online travel service providers.
George Simpson, a
spokesman for the company, said the new statistics on Web site
traffic shows the power of niche sites which use a good deal of
consumer-generated content to attract and keep visitors.
"These sites are
part of the long tail of the consuming public and demonstrate that
consumers can be found well beyond the big portals that have so far
attracted most of the ad spend in nearly every category," Simpson
said. "Moreover, by specializing in travel, we can represent not
only niche sites, but big sites like RandMcNally.com at a lower
cost than a publisher funding their own full-time
staff."
To
contact reporter Dan Luzadder, send e-mail to [email protected].