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.