Backflip Network Launches With Redherring.com, SF Gate, And UpsideToday.com

Backflip's Personal Search & Directory Incorporated into Top Content Sites

San Francisco, CA -- February 2, 2000 -- Backflip, Inc. (www.backflip.com), which allows users to easily create their own personal Yahoo-like directory and search engine, today announced the launch of the Backflip Network -- a set of websites that incorporates Backflip into their content and commerce sites. Backflip also announced the first members of the Backflip Network, including SF Gate, Redherring.com and UPSIDETODAY.com. With mouse-click simplicity, the new service lets members save -- or "backflip" -- something of interest they see on the Web, and then find it again easily using Backflip's powerful organizing and full-text searching capabilities.

In a throwback to the days of ripping pages out of magazines, the Backflip Network allows users to return to stories long after the issue has left the newsstands, allowing them to take their Web archives with them wherever they go. Users can easily return to the pages they've saved in their own personal Web directory using Backflip's automatic organizing and full-text searching capabilities.

"We've received an overwhelming response from Backflip users, who are using the service for everything from planning their weddings to storing their research and recipes," said Tim Hickman, CEO and co-founder of Backflip, Inc. "In just eight weeks, Backflip users have saved more than 5 million pages to their personal web sites, proving that this is a valuable tool they'll use again and again. Now that the ability to save any article is integrated on the same page as every article published by our Backflip Network's partners, we expect more users to take advantage of the free service.

"Redherring.com is excited to provide Backflip to our readers; it's a great tool for archiving information and will add to their experience on our site," said Jeff Cain, vice president of business development for Redherring.com.

"Since we give them lots of reasons to keep coming back, SF Gate readers are already tremendously loyal," said John Coate, General Manager of SF Gate. "Most of them visit the site once a day or more. Backflip should increase this loyalty."

Members of the Backflip Network provide their users with an exciting service that lets them save and then quickly get back to the pages they find important. Not only does the Backflip Network provide for increased re-circulation of their existing content - but it also serves as a valuable editorial tool for sites to analyze which pages are most often saved by their users. This new feedback can be dramatically more accurate from statistics where popularity is viewed only by the number of clicks received.

With the introduction of the Backflip Network, content partners are integrating Backflip with their content. As a personalization hub, Backflip understands what Web surfers find important and enables partners to better serve their mutual customers. Content and commerce partners are intrigued because they will have a better understanding of what their audiences' are saving on a page -- not just merely viewing as they surf the Net.

About Backflip

Backflip, Inc. is dedicated to providing individuals with their personal view of the Web, wherever they are. Founded in June 1999 by Netscape veterans Tim Hickman and Chris Misner, Backflip raised $4 million in seed round funding from 21st Century Internet Venture Partners and Angel Ventures, LP. The company's Board of Directors includes Backflip's co-founders and three prominent Silicon Valley leaders: Jennifer Bailey, former senior vice president of Netscape; Ron Conway, general partner of Angel Investors; and J. Neil Weintraut, general partner at 21st Century Internet Venture Partners. Headquartered in San Francisco, Backflip currently has more than 30 employees.
 

Contact Information:

Donna Sokolsky
Spark Public Relations (for Backflip)
Tel: 650-330-0330
Email: donna@sparkpr.com