Wellesley, Mass. (October 10, 2000) - Visitors to the bostonphoenix.com arts and entertainment site can now easily find a great neighborhood restaurant, movie theater showing the latest Hollywood blockbuster, or a host of other local business brands, products, services and promotions at the click of their mouse.

Powered by the PlaceLinks Local Commerce Directory System, the Phoenix Media/Communications Group's new local web business directory and promotions/coupon system, called the biz, promotes local bricks and mortar businesses to the growing number of online users seeking local information and services. the biz features detailed business listings and promotions on everything from "accommodations" and "art dealers" to "transit systems" and "travel agencies", and the ability to search six different ways by brand, product, service, activity, category or business name.

the biz launches on The Boston Phoenix web site bostonphoenix.com, which was recently awarded the 2000 Best Local Arts & Entertainment Internet Award from The Kelsey Group, a New York-based Internet industry research firm. bostonphoenix.com beat out sites such as AOL Digital City, SignOn San Diego and washingtonpost.com for the prestigious award. The Phoenix Media Communications Group plans to extend the biz to other Phoenix newspaper web sites in Worcester, Mass.; Providence, RI and Portland, ME, as well as to the FNX Radio Network web sites in Boston, Providence, Portland/Portsmouth, NH and Manchester, NH through thephoenix.com arts and entertainment portal.

"People come to our site for great local content and information. The PlaceLinks Local Commerce Directory is a natural addition because it gives web users another reason to visit by offering a high quality resource for things they want to buy and services they want to use in their community." said Michael Bornhorst, director of marketing, The Phoenix Newspapers.

Using the PlaceLinks Local Commerce Directory System, media companies can quickly and cost-effectively increase their advertising revenue opportunities by promoting local businesses through their web sites. The PlaceLinks Local Commerce Directory System is a customizable Web-based application that automates and delivers high-quality, local business brand, product, and service data as well as targeted promotional content.

The PlaceLinks Local Commerce Directory System centers on a self-service enhancement and placement system, integrated with a back-end administration and billing engine that is ready-to-go. Businesses create their profile once and can then place them in an extended placement network of newspaper, wireless, cable, interactive television and other online directories. Advertisers can promote their products and services by name and use sophisticated tracking software to measure impressions and interest.

PlaceLinks also provides business design, project management, online hosting and maintenance services. Using its technical expertise and infrastructure capabilities, PlaceLinks customizes its Local Commerce Directory System according to the "look and feel" of a customer's web site, fully integrates the application, and manage any migration issues. PlaceLinks hosts and maintains the directory system or licenses it to run on a customer's own servers.