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October 12, 2009

For further information contact:
Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President
1-800-331-8102, ext.123
rtesi@worldata.com

2009 Trends Revealed in the Worldata Fall List Price Index

Consumer Email Lists Reveal The Largest Price Decrease
Donor & Newsletter Files Lead A Hopeful Price Increase
First Year of International Email Tracking - Prices Show A Decline

October 2009, Boca Raton, FL –

Worldata’s Fall 2009 List Price Index, the barometer for the trending of all list rental pricing,reveals that Permission-Based Email B-to-C lists continue to lead the price decline, showing the largest price decrease of all categories. The Donor and Newsletter categories are the only sectors that show increases this year. Fall 2009 marks the first full-year that InternationalEmail data has been tracked, indicating that prices are holding steady quarter-to-quarter, but have decreased overall from last year. This trend indicates that US-based businesses are continuing to show interest in marketing to a global audience.

For over twenty years, the Worldata List Price Index has served the Direct/Interactive Marketing community as the key source for the pricing and trending of all list rentals . The Index is reported quarterly, providing a comparison of list prices during any given 12-month period and tracking price fluctuations, as cost per thousand (CPM), for lists in various categories.

COMMENTS: “It is nice to see a slight shift toward an upward trend this quarter, as there are a few categories beginning to show some promise regaining list rental prices. Although consumer postal and email lists still show a seemingly downward trend, prices are becoming more competitive because it appears that we have reached a bottom in terms of pricing in these categories,” said Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President of Worldata. “For example, newsletter subscriber files have notably been a strong and responsive list rental area. It’s encouraging to see a $6 increase since last fall.”

Worldata is tracking Permission-Based International Email for the first consecutive year:

  • Permission-Based International Emaildecreased $14/M from last year with a current straight average price of $406/M. However, this category has remained relatively consistent quarter-to-quarter, increasing $2/M over Summer 2009 average list rental prices.

“The International data that we’ve collected over the year is also very significant. We can see that direct marketers are continuing to explore opportunities outside the US which is another open-door for our industry,” says Tesi.

The most recent Worldata List Price Index reflects price variations from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009. The lists evaluated are grouped into categories, such as Consumer Merchandise Buyers, Donors, Databases, Business Magazines and more . Information such as Average Price, Lowest List Price, Highest List Price and Exact Dollar Change are provided. Through charts and graphs, year-to-year price fluctuations can easily be distinguished in this index.

With this in mind, the comparison of lists in this Fall 2009 List Price Index to the Fall 2008 List Price Index of a year ago reveals some very significant variations not only in individual categories, but in media types as well, as exhibited below:

The Straight Average Graph (Chart 1) in the Worldata List Price Index examines the average cost per thousand (CPM) of the lists we have grouped in each category. Triple bars are used in each category for easy comparison of Fall 2007 and 2008 prices to Fall 2009 prices.

Overall, CPM averages for Fall 2009 have decreased from Fall 2008, however, specific groups within categories demonstrated significant changes worth reporting.

  • Permission-Based Email B-to-B is the highest-priced domestic category, with a Fall 2009 straight average price of $288/M, a decrease of $5/M from last year.
  • Public Sector ranks as the next highest-priced category range, with a Fall 2009 straight average price of $173/M, decreasing $1/M from last year.
  • Donors remains the lowest-priced category, with an average list price of $84/M, increasing $1/M over last year.

The Straight Dollar Change Graph (Chart 2) shows the precise dollar amount that the average price for each category has changed within the specified 12-month period.

  • The largest price decrease occurred in the Permission-Based Email B-to-C category, which dropped $36/M from Fall 2008 to $114/M. A decrease has occurred every quarter in this category, however, averages for this quarter reveal how significant the decrease has been over the year since Fall 2008.
  • Newsletters showed the greatestprice increase over the previous year, with a straight average price of $171/M, a $6/M increase over last Fall.
  • The lowest price decrease occurred within the Public Sector category, which dropped $1/M from last year.

The Straight Average Percent Dollar Change Graph(Chart 3) takes into consideration the straight average for each category.

  • Permission-Based B-to-C reflects the largest percent decrease at 24%.
  • The lowest percentage decrease occurred in the Public Sector category with a 0.57% decrease in price.
  • The only percentage increases occurred in the Newsletters and Donors categories with a 3.64% and 1.20% increase respectively .

Worldata and its group of companies have been leaders in the direct/interactive marketing services field for over 30 years. Worldata designed its corporateheadquarters, located in Boca Raton, Florida, from the ground up. It is the only company offering all services under one roof, including Email and Postal List Management, List Brokerage, Email Transmission and Tracking, Database Marketing Services, Data Hygiene, Change of Address, Merge Purge, Cost-Per-Lead Marketing and Co-Registration, Custom Marketing Solutionsand Banner Advertising. Information about Worldata can be found at www.worldata.com or contact Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President, at 800-331-8102 or via email at rtesi@worldata.com.