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February 7, 2000
e-tractions launches web-based games designed to convert casual site traffic into loyal customers

e-tractions, creators of Web-based entertainment for one-to-one marketing, today showcased "Propaganda™," the first online game in its upcoming suite of innovative marketing products and services designed to entice and convert casual site traffic into loyal customers. Unlike game portals, e-tractions' customizable, continually refreshable games will be featured on customer sites in order to maximize their respective marketing and branding efforts.

Launching at the Demo 2000 Conference, e-tractions works directly with clients to tailor engaging programs engineered to retain, profile, educate and entertain Web visitors in harmony with a company's specific business objectives. Using proprietary technology and a catalog of continually-refreshable entertainment formats, e-tractions collects visitor clickstream and/or registration data during play sessions that is forwarded to clients for use in improving the "stickiness" of their sites.

"Only thirty percent of all Web surfers have volunteered their personal information to websites, and most of these have done so only when there was a chance to get something valuable in return," explained Michael Gauthier, e-tractions president and CEO. "Our Web games not only stop visitors in their 'mouse tracks,' but also intelligently mine for the critical data that will enable clients to build customer loyalty, increase revenue and, ultimately, develop stronger brands on the Web."

The customer profile data is collected with entertaining tools like Propaganda, e-tractions' first format game release. These entirely customizable games can be refreshed continually, and are designed to allow for a wide variety of trivia styles and game show concepts. The formats include optional team play, audience surveys and "host" personalities. Propaganda was designed for a soon-to-be-launched Web site that rewards student players with points toward college scholarships. e-tractions fashioned its customizable game show format into a "Generation Y" marketing tool - replete with Russian Cold War graphics and a quirky game show host with an irreverent sense of humor. Players are challenged to answer questions correctly about a wealth of topics, ranging from popular culture to historic events.

Information To Build Business
Propaganda and other customizable game formats can be programmed to make "on-the-fly" adjustments in accordance with shifting player demographics. This unique, highly intuitive feature enables host sites to continually cater to the interests of their respective player-base by automatically adapting the type of questions, difficulty level, and even screen color, to provide an always-fresh, optimal gaming environment. e-tractions' adaptable game formats enable online marketers to keep a finger on the pulse of their ever-evolving clickstreams, and to ensure that e-tractions can gather and then return to clients a wealth of relevant profile information gleaned from players' responses. The profiles help clients to identify their customers, their needs, and the products and services that will meet their goals. e-tractions' programs provide the marketing framework with which to refine all aspects of a company's marketing mix, from the product offering, to pricing, promotion and distribution.

Demo 2000 Introduction
e-tractions chose Demo 2000 as the venue to introduce their services to market. Demo 2000 is a hands-on, face-to-face experience for companies whose products and ideas are shaping the future. It is a launch pad for the year's market-making personal technology products; each product is screened and personally selected by industry analyst and executive producer Chris Shipley, after months of searching and one-on-one evaluations. Considered the "Who's Who" of product and technology development, Demo 2000 will be attended by the industry's leading press, analysts, venture backers, executives and technologists.

"The e-tractions concept is a winner," Shipley said. "Consumers are beginning to understand that their trust, loyalty and attention are assets for which they can be rewarded in numerous ways. e-tractions' interactive games are an innovative way for corporate marketers to tap into this emerging trend while providing an entertaining forum within which they can learn more about their audiences."

About e-tractions:
e-tractions is the Bedford, Mass.-based developer of innovative entertainment tools for one-to-one web marketing. Created to dramatically improve the effectiveness of corporate websites, e-tractions provides advanced Web-based systems that offer incentives, education and entertainment, while targeting and influencing the right audience. e-tractions works directly with its clients to tailor engaging games designed to entice and convert casual site traffic into loyal customers.