Press Release

 

 

QSound Labs' E-Commerce Subsidiary, QCommerce Acquires Choicemall.com from LookSmart Ltd.

 

 

Distribution Agreement with LookSmart, the Global Leader in Internet Search Infrastructure, To Drive Millions of Internet Shoppers to choicemall.com

 

 

Calgary, Alberta - May 17, 2000 -- QSound Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSND), a leader in e-commerce solutions, multimedia software, Internet audio and audio technology, today announced that its e-commerce subsidiary, QCommerce, Inc., has acquired Choicemall.com from LookSmart Ltd., (NASDAQ: LOOK) the global leader in Internet search infrastructure, for one million common shares of QSound Labs. Choicemall.com is an e-commerce portal dedicated to helping small businesses sell products online and currently has a community of over 1000 merchants.

The agreement includes having LookSmart distribute QSound content and properties throughout LookSmart's network of partner sites. LookSmart's distribution network reaches more than 52 million people each month, 74 percent of all Internet users in the US. LookSmart will also provide QSound sites with search services and other related content.

"This acquisition provides QCommerce with the perfect venue for showcasing its e-commerce tools," says David Gallagher. "In addition to a premier e-commerce site that is indexed and syndicated among top web portals and hundreds of Internet Service Providers, we are gaining a pool of over 10,000 merchants eager to promote and sell their products online. The combination of Choicemall's reach and large existing customer base with the full suite of QCommerce e-solutions will give us a significant advantage in the marketplace. With this synergy, we are gaining more than a full measure of value from this acquisition."

"This deal allows each party to focus on what they do best," said Scott Stanford, vice president of e-commerce distribution at LookSmart. "LookSmart will expand QSound's reach and traffic through LookSmart's directory listings business and through traditional online advertising. QCommerce can leverage its technology and processes to quickly and cost-effectively help small businesses establish best-in-breed online stores. Most importantly, the individual merchants will have both the tools and traffic they need to run successful Web businesses."

The purchase expands QCommerce's presence in the e-commerce space and lays the foundation for a total business solution that incorporates its proven e-business solutions into a high-traffic shopping destination. In December 1999, QSound launched QCommerce, an e-business services company dedicated to enabling small businesses to succeed by providing easy to use, secure and affordable e-commerce solutions to display and sell goods and services online. Now, with Choicemall and a large distribution deal with LookSmart, QSound also has a means of driving traffic to those companies.

About LookSmart:
LookSmart (NASDAQ: LOOK) is the global leader in Internet search infrastructure, dedicated to helping the world find useful information quickly. LookSmart's search service reaches over 52 million people a month -- 74 percent of all Internet users in the U.S. -- through LookSmart's Web properties and partner sites. LookSmart provides its search solutions to leading Internet portals, ISPs and Web sites including The Microsoft Network, Netscape Netcenter, Time Warner Inc., Excite@Home, Sony, BT, Road Runner, Prodigy, US West, AltaVista, NetZero, over 370 Internet service providers and thousands of Web sites. LookSmart's search solutions include a collection of over 1.8 million high-quality URLs organized into more than 170,000 categories. LookSmart has built Web directories for 30 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Brazil. Through its partnership with Cox Interactive Media, LookSmart also offers one of the largest collections of quality local Web content in more than 70 U.S. markets. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be contacted at 415/348-7000 or visited at www.looksmart.com.

About QCommerce:
QCommerce, a wholly owned subsidiary of QSound Labs, Inc., provides e-commerce solutions for small to medium sized businesses. Solutions include: Internet Store, a complete storefront based on self-serve technology that incorporates merchant credit card accounts, secure transaction processing and inventory management; and affiliateDirect, an on-line marketing program and measurement tool designed to drive traffic to the store. Visit the QCommerce Web site at www.qcommerce.com or www.choicemall.com for more information.


This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 concerning, among other things, future growth and profitability and including statements made by Mr. David Gallagher and Mr. Scott Stanford. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the Company's ability to carry out its business strategy and marketing plans, including availability of sufficient resources for the Company to do so timely and cost effectively, consumer acceptance of the Company's products and services, dependence on the performance of third parties who have agreed to market the Company's technologies, continued growth of the Internet, dependence on intellectual property, uncertainties relating to product development and commercial introduction, system failures, virus and security vulnerability, rapid technological change and competition, general economic and business conditions and other risks which may be detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations, projections and opinions of the Company's management, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to such forward-looking statements which may be made, for example to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

 

 

 

 

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