St. Cloud, MN, June 28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, launches Apperang.com, a new Internet service where consumers get rewarded for discovering and sharing great mobile applications. 

“Apperang.com gives consumers a way to discover interesting apps and then get paid for each installation,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i.  “By becoming members of Apperang and sharing their interests, consumers view applications that they find useful and get paid for installing them.  What could be better than that?”

Apperang.com works as follows:

1. User visits Apperang.com, consumer website
2. User views recommended apps
3. User installs app and syncs through iTunes®
4. User gets paid $.25 if the app is free or $.25 plus the cost of the application if it is a paid app

Apperang will initially support apps available on the App Store for iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® devices.  Apperang launches as a desktop website and will be extended with an iPhone app at a later date.  Only US residents will find available apps, but additional markets will be added quickly.  Consumers in other countries can become a member and will be notified when apps become available for their country.  Users must be 13 years older to join.  Members get paid a 5% referral bonus for the first 2 years on all install revenues generated by their direct referrals.  

Apperang.com launches its public beta on June 28, 2010, at 6:00 a.m. CDT.  Participating apps in the beta include MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios.  To start earning cash, join Apperang.com today.

About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications.  On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel.  On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.  W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business.  W3i runs several owned-and-operated consumer sites including Apperang.com, Freeze.com, and Screensaver.com with more than 15 million unique visitors a month.  To learn more, visit www.W3i.com or view our W3i Mobile Press Kit.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

St. Cloud, MN, June  28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, today announces the launch of W3i Mobile Solutions, a new mobile app distribution service delivering low-cost advertising campaigns for iOS apps on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.W3i Mobile is utilizing InstallIQ™, the intelligent installation technology, built by W3i and optimized on more than 400 million application installs, including 100 million in 2009 alone.  

“W3i is excited to extend its distribution solutions to now include iOS applications,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i. “By using InstallIQ’s intelligent installer technology, W3i Mobile offers advertisers several benefits right out of the gate — speed-to-market with no integration, powerful targeting to increase relevancy for users, and sophisticated reporting to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.” 

W3i Mobile distribution is initially available through W3i’s new consumer web site, Apperang.com and works as follows:  

1. User visits Apperang.com  website
2. User views recommended apps
3. User installs app(s) and syncs through iTunes®
4. App advertiser pays only for installs plus the cost of the application

One of the ways iPhone® app developers are using mobile distribution services is to increase their rankings in the App Store®, creating the critical mass necessary for a profitable app business.  With more than 225,000 apps in the App Store, and 15,000 submitted each week, the key to success for developers is to use mobile distribution services to get their apps into the hands of users to increase their rankings.   According to Pinch Media (as of March 2009), appearing on a Top-100 list increases daily new users by an average of 2.3 times.  Greater gains result from appearing in the Top-25 and Top-10 lists (more variable but often an order of magnitude). The private beta of W3i Mobile launched June 22^nd, and today the company launches a public beta.  Participating apps in the beta include, among others, MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios. To learn how you can participate in the W3i Mobile Solutions beta release, please contact W3i or call Thomas Heitz at 1-877-257-7025, ext. 7593.

About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications.  On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel.  On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.  W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business.  To learn more, visit www.w3i.com or view the W3i Mobile Press Kit.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

W3i is launching a new service that pays consumers to download iPhone apps

Just launched a new game on the iPhone?  

Prepare to join more than 200,000 applications battling it out to land on top download lists. If you’re not listed, it’s likely consumers won’t even be aware of your existence.

One new solution? Tell consumers that for every app of yours they download, they’ll receive 25 cents in their PayPal account.

Sartell, Minn.-based software distributor W3i says it’s a good way for new apps to attract attention. On Monday, W3i will launch an online service featuring dozens of iPhone applications, offering consumers real cash for every download while letting developers pay to gain the traffic they need.

“There is no easy way to discover apps that one might be interested in,” said Andy Johnson, CEO of W3i. “To get there you have to break through the clutter. This is what we do.”

W3i is launching its service, called Apperang, at a time when the number of mobile applications and the demand for them continue to grow. More than 4 billion iPhone applications have been downloaded since the app store launched in 2008, according to financial services firm Morgan Stanley.

But getting a share of those downloads can be difficult, developers said.

James DonFrancesco hopes that by using Apperang, his company’s 99-cent app that measures elevation will move up from its No. 30 ranking on the app store’s top navigations downloads list and generate more sales.

DonFrancesco, vice president and director of business for Eden Prairie-based Precognitive Research, said his company is paying W3i $500 for Apperang and estimates it will bring about 400 downloads.

Meanwhile, consumers will log onto www.apperang.com, plug their iPhone into their computers and download the app for free.

“It’s going to help us boost our ranking in the app store, and that’s the key,” DonFrancesco said. “When you get listed higher in the app store, consumers will see your application listed and more people will see it and more will buy it.”

Executives at W3i hope Apperang will provide an additional revenue stream for their company. It also makes software that helps Web developers attract more users for things like wallpaper and toolbars by giving people additional recommendations when they download something online.

The company said it has been profitable for 33 consecutive quarters and has 67 employees. In 2006, it said it had $26.8 million in revenue, but has not disclosed sales since then for competitive reasons.

W3i came up with the idea for Apperang in the first quarter of this year. As more people were buying smart phones and using the mobile Web to download applications, W3i wanted to get into that market, executives said.

“There is a bigger opportunity with this than our core business,” Johnson said.

Still, some industry analysts are skeptical whether there is enough incentive for consumers to go through Apperang to download an app.

“I’m not sure if I’m highly motivated by a quarter,” said Mark Beccue, a senior analyst at ABI Research. “It doesn’t buy me much these days.”

Nashville developer Jackson Miller, who helped launch the popular iPhone game gpsAssassin, said he’s not sure if he would use Apperang to advertise his apps because there’s no metric to track whether the consumer uses the app once it’s installed.

Giving away cash is easy

“Paying 25 cents to install it and delete it would do me no good,” said Miller, who plans to relaunch the game this year. “It’s really easy to give away cash. I don’t know if the people that you are going to get from giving away cash are going to then turn [that] into revenue dollars for me.”

iPhone applications can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 to develop, according to Forrester Research. Some developers choose to charge money for their apps, while others offer them for free.

Free apps generally make money through virtual products bought inside a game, mobile advertisements or by encouraging customers to purchase other products. Apple retains 30 percent of app sales.

W3i will be selective as to which apps it features on Apperang, said Ryan Weber, vice president of corporate strategy and co-founder.

Weber said the company has had success in attracting customers to other recommended software and will select applications that are high quality. The company plans to promote Apperang through blogs, cross-promotions within its business and Apperang’s referral service.

“The cash incentive alone is not going to be significant enough,” Weber said.

Click Here to View Star Tribune article

St. Cloud, Minnesota, June 21, 2010 –  W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the internet industry, was named one of the Top Workplaces in the Twin Cities metro area, based on an employee-based survey project from the Star Tribune.   The Star Tribune Top Workplaces special section was published in the Star Tribune on Sunday, June 20.  The report can be found at Star Tribune/Top Workplaces 2010.  

Produced by the same team that compiles the 19-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota, Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in the metro – based on employee opinions about company leadership, career opportunities, workplace flexibility, compensation, and benefits.  The analysis included responses from over 33,000 employees at Minnesota public, private, and non-profit organizations.

The rankings in the Star Tribune top places to work are based on survey information collected by Workplace Dynamics, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention.

W3i CEO, Andy Johnson, said, “I am honored to work with a group of people as highly engaged and focused on a common mission as the team at W3i. It is because of this engagement and passion that W3i is such a great place to work. It’s a real pleasure to be part of building a company that we can all be proud of.”

Star Tribune Publisher, Michael J.  Klingensmith, comments, “I congratulate each of the companies in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces on their outstanding accomplishment.  They have succeeded in creating a positive workplace for their employees during very challenging economic times.” 

About W3i:

W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications enabling publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was tested and optimized on over 400 million application installs-over 100 million app installs in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

To qualify for the Star Tribune Top Workplaces, a company must have more than 50 employees in the Twin Cities metro area.  Over 1,000 companies were invited to participate.  Rankings were composite scores calculated purely on the basis of employee responses.

St. Cloud, Minnesota, June 7, 2010 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for consumer applications, introduces W3i Mobile at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco by offering a $12,000 Mobile App Marketing Sweepstakes.

“W3i is excited about extending its distribution solutions to now include iPhone applications,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i. To kick-off the business, W3i is conducting a public drawing for a $12,000 mobile app marketing campaign. The drawing will be held on-site @ WWDC on Tuesday, June 8^th, 2010 at 1:00pm PDT. (Online entries close at 11:55am PDT.) Click here to view the Official Sweepstakes Rules. 

Developers can enter the sweepstakes by visiting W3i.com/mobile or by giving a business card to a member of the W3i street team at the WWDC event in San Francisco on June 7 and 8, 2010.

W3i Mobile is also offering a 50% discount for the first 50 qualified advertisers that sign-up for campaigns before June 20th, 2010.  The promotion is offered to developers with a free or paid application available in the Apple App Store for download by U.S. residents.

W3i Mobile is an iPhone (including iPad & iPod touch) app distribution solution that offers low-cost, pay-per-install advertising campaigns to mobile app providers.  Contact W3i or call Thomas Heitz at 1-877-257-7025, ext. 7593 to learn how you can ramp up your iPhone application marketing efforts.

About W3i:

W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications enabling publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users value.  InstallIQ was tested and optimized on over 350 million app installs-over 100 million app installs in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

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W3i Moves Data Center to Increase Security, Reliability, and Scalability for the W3i Application Network

ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA, March 23, 2010 — The W3i Application Network is growing rapidly, averaging 9.6 million installs each month.  W3i made a strategic decision to move its data center to increase the level of security, reliability, and scalability of its operations.  W3i relocated its primary data center operations from St. Cloud, MN, to its new state-of-the-art, co-located facility in Chicago, IL. 

W3i’s data center operations are the “brains” behind its flagship product, InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary installation manager.  Its data center is responsible for processing millions of daily requests from its installation client that determine what advertisements best match its user’s preferences.  Vice President of Information Systems, Jeff Bollinger explains the reasoning behind the move.  “Given the growth and increased strategic focus on delivering installs via W3i’s InstallIQ platform, the decision to move made sense for both the company and its partners.  Our St. Cloud data center was acceptable through our first ten years of growth, however, our new Chicago facility provides increased resiliency which is something we and our partners have grown to expect.” 

The new data center facility features Tier III construction standards which include distinct distribution paths, compartmentalization and concurrently maintainable infrastructure.  All of these features mean an increased level of reliability for W3i advertisers and publishers.  According to the Uptime Institute, facilities with Tier III type construction standards on average provide 99.98% site uptime per year.

Moving locations also gave W3i an opportunity to upgrade its core network and computing platforms.  The new data center features extensive virtualization technology in both computing (VMWare) and storage (Compellent Technologies).  The introduction of these new technologies has helped drive down capital and operating costs while at the same time increase the resiliency of our operations.  “The efficiency and flexibility that virtualization introduces is stunning,” states Bollinger.  “We’ve been able to reduce our physical server count by about 70%.” 

Virtualization is not new to W3i’s IT group.  A year ago W3i signed a deal with Seattle based SkyTap Inc. to provide cloud-based computing resources which enable a robust desktop testing platform for W3i’s Marketing Operations group.  “We are very pleased with the flexibility we see with our QA group using Skytap virtualization.  With the introduction of VMWare into our new Data Center we are now able to extend the success we saw with SkyTap into our core infrastructure operations,” says Bollinger. 

W3i’s Business Intelligence group is also excited about the new facility and architecture.  W3i’s publishers and advertisers benefit from W3i’s robust data warehouse platform which provides multi-dimensional reporting via W3i’s Associate Reporting portal.  “With our new computing and storage infrastructure we can decrease the amount of time it takes to process data, providing our associates with even more reliable delivery of information,”  comments Tim Laqua, Business Intelligence Team Lead at W3i.

The move ensures that W3i continues to deliver mass monetization and distribution opportunities to consumer application publishers and advertisers, now with even greater levels of service provided by its new Chicago facility.

About W3i

W3i, an application network that increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and add-ons, enables publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications during the installation process giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installation manager to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently over 9.6 million installs monthly and growing, W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

ST. CLOUD, MN, March 19, 2010 – Freeze.com launched its Video Saver today.  This screensaver can showcase most videos located on YouTube®, a personal video, or YouTube® Feed.  By downloading the free desktop application and adding the code or URL for a video or video feed, your desktop will play that video as its screensaver.

 Features of Freeze.com’s Video Screensaver include multiple-monitor support, video looping and the ability to customize quality, sound, and more.  The Video Screensaver cross-promotes various free consumer applications using a proprietary installation manager, InstallIQ™, so that it can be installed by the consumer for free.

 “Now you can laugh every time you come back to your PC by having your monitor play your all-time favorite YouTube® video,” comments Rob Weber, Vice President and Co-Founder of W3i.

 About W3i

W3i, an application network that increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and add-ons, enables publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications during the installation process giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel.  W3i owns and operated several consumer sites where consumers can download quality apps for free—video players, music players, games, screensavers, and more. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network or Freeze.com, Screensaver.com, Wallpapers.com, and EZtoCreate.com.

 Contact:

Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

ST. CLOUD, MN, March 16, 2010 – W3i announced today that Jim Biermeier has joined W3i as Director of Business Development.

“Jim is a strong sales leader with over 20 years of software sales experience,” said Rob Weber, Vice President of Business Development and Co-Founder of W3i.  “He understands what consumer software/application marketers need to increase their revenue and how W3i can address their challenges.”

“This is a great time to be in the consumer application business,” Jim said. “W3i offers a unique distribution channel for consumer apps by capitalizing on the moment the consumer is in the installation mindset. W3i creates an additional source of revenue for consumer application publishers by leveraging the demand for their free desktop and browser apps on a massive scale.  It is exciting to be on the forefront of this emerging distribution channel and to have the opportunity to work with consumer app marketers in growing their businesses.”

Previously Jim held several management positions at Digital River, where as one of Digital River’s first fifty employees, he spearheaded account acquisition and retention.  He also worked in sales for Premis Corporation, enterprise software systems, and Concourse Corporation, computer-based and video-based training solutions. 

About W3i:
W3i, an application network that increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and add-ons, enables publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications during the installation process giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installation manager to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently over 9.6 million installs monthly, W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your consumer application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

Jackpot Rewards Selects W3i for Consumer App Distribution

St. Cloud, Minnesota, February 9, 2010 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for consumer applications, announced today that Jackpot Rewards is now part of the W3i Application Network.  Jackpot Rewards, a sweepstakes and shopping rewards program, is using the W3i Application Network as a new application distribution channel for its free Jackpot Rewards application.

“The W3i Application Network provides a mass distribution channel for companies with consumer applications that are seeking customer acquisition beyond paid search and social media,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development at W3i.  “Jackpot Rewards recognizes the opportunity the W3i Application Network offers to grow its membership by expediting the discovery of its free shopping and sweepstakes application to millions of new users.”

Jackpot Rewards has a new and unique shopping and sweepstakes product for consumers, called “Shop to Win”.  “Shop to Win” is free to consumers and gives them the chance to win $500 a day and a $100,000 Jackpot for every $5 they spend at over 2,000 leading online retailers. 

“W3i’s distribution capabilities give us the opportunity to dramatically increase our memberships with a trusted partner,” said Jim Miller, the CEO and Founder of Jackpot Rewards. “We are excited about the results to date and look forward to a long-term relationship with W3i.” 

 About W3i: 

W3i increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and plug-ins. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free applications monetized by the distribution of relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  The W3i Application Network uses Install IQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently 9.6 million installs monthly, W3i will prove to be a valued distribution partner in growing your consumer application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:

Deborah Manthei

Director of Marketing Communications

320-257-7571

deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

   Improved Business Monitoring with W3i’s New Associate Reporting Site 

St. Cloud, Minnesota, February 4, 2010 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for consumer applications, announced today that its advertisers, publishers and affiliates can now access more data for better decision making.

“Our associates are essential to the success of our business.  By providing more robust reporting they can make educated business decisions to optimize performance,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development at W3i. 

The W3i Associate Reporting Dashboard offers close to real-time business intelligence data including graphs for visual monitoring.  Publisher and Affiliate stats include:  revenue, conversion, conversion rate, EPC, and entry hits by product and country.  Advertisers can see their acceptance rates by operating systems and countries. Many improvements were also made to the user interface.

W3i built the new interface from the ground up offering many useful features:

• Quick Stat Dashboard:  The dashboard includes a quick snapshot of associates’ performance, including pie charts, bar charts, and trend line analysis for convenience. 
• Customized Reporting:  Associates can use a pivot table format to see different views of their data and export to excel or PDF.
• Data Insights:  Enhanced metrics allow associates to slice data down to a granular level.  
• Dashboard Message Center:  The message center improves communication, including messages on the latest promotional opportunities, technology roadmap releases, and other significant tips on how to increase consumer app distribution, revenue and engagement.

For example:

This advertiser can see how his conversion rates are trending.

W3i will be completing the roll out to additional Associates over the next several days.  For more information, contact W3i.

About W3: 

W3i increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and browser add-ons. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free applications monetized by the distribution of relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently 9.6 million installs monthly, W3i will prove to be a valued distribution partner in growing your consumer application business. To learn more, visit] the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:

Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

 The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

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