Americantowns.com Announces Affiliations With Traffic.com And Alliance Reservations Network
Offers Expands Services for Local Users Across U.S.
FAIRFIELD, CT – Nov. 7, 2007 – AmericanTowns, the national network of hyperlocal, community-based websites, today announced content relationships with Traffic.com and the Alliance Reservations Network. The new relationships will enable AmericanTowns to provide its users with up-to-the-minute local traffic information and best-price local hotel accommodations. Implementation of these alliances is funded with proceeds from a recent investment made in AmericanTowns by Idearc Media Corp.
Traffic.com is the nation’s leading provider of traffic information for towns and cities across the United States. In the coming months, AmericanTowns and Traffic.com will offer co-branded content, including real-time traffic news and information for the 50 US metropolitan areas currently served by Traffic.com. These communities, each also served by AmericanTowns, cover 100 million drivers, 70 million of which are daily commuters.
Alliance Reservations Network is a travel booking search engine that, effective November 8, will provide AmericanTowns’ users the best prices available for cancelable rooms at more than 59,000 hotels in the United States and around the globe. Unlike many national services, AmericanTowns will charge neither service fees nor cancellation charges up to the hotel allowed deadline for guaranteed accommodations (generally 24-48 hours before occupancy date).
“We are eager to provide AmericanTowns’ users with the local information most important to their daily life,” said Jim Maglione, Co-President of Community at AmericanTowns. “Local traffic info is something many Americans need every day, before they leave their homes or offices. We also think hotel vendors shouldn’t charge customers extra fees and should always offer the best available rates. AmericanTowns’ relationships with Traffic.com and Alliance Reservations Network are part of our commitment to bring best-of-class services to our local communities.”
Today’s announcements closely follow news of a strategic investment in AmericanTowns by Idearc Media Corp., the NYSE-listed publisher of the Verizon Yellow Pages and home to Superpages.com®. AmericanTowns is working with Idearc in a strategic partnership to share content, traffic and their knowledge base. As part of this partnership, Idearc will seek to send 10 million online visits to AmericanTowns.com. The funding will also allow AmericanTowns to expand its services for local communities.
About AmericanTowns
AmericanTowns is a national network of community-based websites where residents can find and share local information, and includes the nation's most extensive online database of community events, community groups, local resources and special tools for organizations. For each of 15,000 US towns (total population: 270 million), AmericanTowns has created a "community web space" to connect citizens, community organizations and locally-focused businesses and to strengthen the bonds of our nation's communities. AmericanTowns is projected to feature more than 10 million community events in 2007, plus powerful tools to help more than 100,000 listed community organizations interact more effectively with local citizens. Founded in 2000, AmericanTowns is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. Visit
www.AmericanTowns.com.