Near-Time and AltSearchEngines Announce Partnership to Build Online Technology Communities

AltSearchEngines launches Premium-based Forums for the search engine market

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Near-Time announced a partnership with AltSearchEngines to extend its leading web property with subscription based forums. CEOs of search engine companies, AltSearchEngine readers, and internationally based advisors can participate in private user-driven communities, enabling interaction among peers in the search engine community. Unlike current AltSearchEngine offerings, these new communities require membership access, and focus on high value content and conversation.

As a member of the ReadWriteWeb network, AltSearchEngines publishes a weblog with coverage of nearly every alternative and niche search engine - daily and globally. Their mission is to reveal "the most wonderful search engines you've never seen."

ReadWriteWeb is ranked among the top 20 blogs worldwide according to Technorati. "We hope to become a one-stop shop for those interested in alternative search engines," said Charles Knight,editor of AltSearchEngines. "Currently, visitors to AltSearchEngines can only read our posts, but for 2008, we want to take it to the next level. The goal is to provide search engine CEOs with a secure place where they can communicate and interact with each other. I made a diligent search of the forum products available, and Near-Time was the clear winner,” continued Knight.

"The new, extended AltSearchEngines forum brings together two critical components of Near-Time online communities, paid content and collaboration. We're pleased to enable new business models and revenue sources for AltSearchEngines," said Reid Conrad, CEO of Near-Time. Powered by Near-Time, the interactive forums will allow members to further engage in discussion and questions related to alternative search engines.

At launch, two separate forums will leverage Near-Time Premium to charge for varying levels of subscription access. AltSearchEngine forum memberships will begin at $5.99/month for readers - or a special introductory rate of $49 per year and an equally appealing introductory rate of $49/year for Search industry authorship. Forum memberships are available immediately at http://members.altsearchengines.com

Built on the Near-Time platform, Premium is the only turn-key web 2.0 solution that makes it possible to create, publish, and monetize content. Authors, publishers, consultants, trade associations, and membership-based organizations use Near-Time Premium to publish content, strengthen their communities and create high-margin revenue.

About AltSearchEngines
Alternative Search Engines (AltSearchEngines) covers the cutting-edge of alternative and niche search engines, and is edited by Charles Knight, an industry analyst. The unique approach of AltSearchEngines is to expand coverage of search engines to include the hundreds of alternative and niche search engines. AltSearchEngines is a member of the ReadWriteWeb blog network. ReadWriteWeb is a popular weblog that provides Web Technology news, reviews and analysis. It is ranked among Technorati's Top 20 blogs globally.

About Near-Time
Near-Time is an award winning, on-demand enterprise 2.0 platform for cross organization collaboration. Business professionals can quickly create rich interaction with their prospects, customers, partners and suppliers. Near-Time integrates wikis, weblogs and forums to enable groups to work together more effectively in a secure, hosted environment. Near-Time users can securely share information, files and create group calendars. Near-Time is in use in over 40 nations by thousands of businesses, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, to maximize internal and external collaboration. Near-Time patent pending Premium service leverages the Near-Time platform to enable organizations to monetize their communities and content. For more information, go to http://www.near-time.com/.


Contact:
Fusion Public Relations
Kathy Archer, 202-898-2000 x108
kathy.archer@fusionpr.com