PRESS/MEDIA

For Immediate Release

• Ongo Debuts Version 2.0 of its News Service with a major expansion of Content and Launch of a ground-breaking Magazine offering

  Ongo 2.0 Offers an Intuitive and Ad-Free Reading Experience, Delivering Content to Subscribers from Domestic and International Newspapers and Magazines

  Cupertino, Calif. – January 25, 2012 – Ongo, the ultimate destination for online news, today launches version 2.0 of its popular service, offering subscribers more major news brands, an immersive interface for magazines and easy access on all smartphones.

  Ongo 2.0 more than doubles its newsstand to over 80 premium titles including international publications like the Hindustan Times and featured content like Salon. The service also offers over 60 free, popular titles and the ability for users to add any RSS feed. This newsstand now generates over 6,750 stories each day, and Ongo's professional team of editors curates that broad range of content on the homepage and throughout the section pages such as business, sports and entertainment.

  The Magazine offering starts with partnerships with over a dozen leading magazine brands including Popular Science and ESPN The Magazine. Ongo 2.0 builds on its award-winning news experience by creating a magazine aesthetic, including cover pages, tables of contents, photo galleries and feature story presentations with full screen images optimized for consumption on computers, tablets or smartphones.

  Ongo is also announcing the launch of version 1.5 of its mobile web app, found at http://m.ongo.com. Specifically designed for the way users read the news on the go, the app is designed for smaller screens, efficient use of bandwidth and rapid user interaction.

  "People want to be able to quickly find the news that matters most and consume it with ease on a device of their choosing. Since Ongo’s launch 12 months ago, we have been listening to our subscriber base and focused on developing a service that delivers a high-quality news experience with a diversity of content from publications across the globe" said Alex Kazim, Ongo Inc.'s founder and chief executive officer.

  More Content

  With the addition of international publications and magazines, Ongo 2.0 will offer even more content to subscribers. Ongo 2.0 includes the first digital syndication to a news aggregator of Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, the world's largest newspaper with a circulation of 10 million, and also features well-respected titles including Popular Science, ESPN The Magazine and the Hindustan Times.

  Selected publications now available via Ongo 2.0 include:

  • Harvard Business Review Blog Network
  • Kiplinger's Personal Finance
  • Engadget
  • TechCrunch
  • Inc. Magazine
  • The Oxford American
  • Columbia Journalism Review
  • Los Angeles Magazine
  • Foreign Affairs
  • The Hindustan Times
  • Yomiuri Shimbun Select
  • The New Republic
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Conservation Magazine
  • Foreign Policy
  • Budget Travel
  • American Photo
  • The Motley Fool
  • Technology Review
  • strategy+business
  • Popular Science
  • ESPN The Magazine

  The full list of current Ongo titles can be found at: http://www.ongo.com/content.php

  Pricing and Availability

  The new features of Ongo 2.0 are available with the service today. To celebrate the launch of this new version, Ongo is offering a discounted price of just $1.99 per month subscription at www.ongo.com. 31. Prices for Premium titles will vary and start at $0.99/month.

• Ongo Wins Prestigious EPPY™ Award for "Best Overall Website Design"

  Ongo joins CNN Digital, NPR, CBS Interactive, TIME and other notable websites in the honor of accepting a 2011 EPPY Award from Editor & Publisher

  Cupertino, Calif. – December 2, 2011 – Ongo, a personal news service that redefines news aggregation online, has been honored with an EPPY Award from Editor & Publisher for "Best Overall Website Design." Since its launch, Ongo has dedicated significant attention to changing the way readers consume news by designing a complete, ad-free, news reading experience that makes quality news easy to find and access.

  While the web offers unprecedented access to information, finding the news has been a fragmented and time consuming experience. Ongo's page layout offers full articles with clean columns and large images in a layout that dynamically resizes to screen or browser size. The experience is enhanced by the site's content which is curated by Ongo's editorial team to highlight must-read news and the important, intriguing "water cooler" stories that might be missed otherwise.

  The EPPY Awards, presented by Editor & Publisher, honor the best media-affiliated websites across 43 diverse categories. Now in its 16th year, this international contest has broadened its scope to keep up with the ever-changing Internet industry.

  "We are thrilled to receive this award; especially since website design and user experience is consistently top of mind at Ongo," said Alex Kazim, CEO and Founder of Ongo. "We built Ongo to reflect the many ways consumers prefer to read, organize and share digital news and are gratified that influential companies are recognizing the value of what we have created."

  Contestants were judged on content, browser compatibility, design, functionality, overall impression and usability. Entries in the EPPY Awards were judged by a panel of notable figures in the media industry, chosen by the staff of Editor & Publisher. Judges hailed from ESPN, Associated Press, New York Times, Gannett, The Knight Foundation, and Financial Times, to name a few.

  A complete list of winners can be found here.

• Ongo Survey Finds Americans Trust News on Social Sites Significantly Less than Newspaper Sites with Editorial Curation

  Americans value journalists' role in curating news and see amount of news online increasing; Ongo editorial team furthers news meta-curation with new Ongo functionality

  Cupertino, Calif. – September 21, 2011 – Ongo, a personal news service that redefines news aggregation online, today released survey results examining American online news preferences. In conjunction with the results, Ongo unveiled new functionality through a new set of section pages showcasing the breadth of content highlighted by Ongo's team of professional editors. The editorial team curates news from Ongo's leading content providers across all eight section pages—ranging from US to World to Sports.

  Ongo surveyed 522 Americans about their opinions on leading news sources, amounts of news online and trust placed in various news sources, revealing:

  Increasing amount of news online

  1. 72.7 percent of Americans feel that over the past year, the amount of daily news and data online has increased.
     1. 31.7 percent of Americans feel it has increased by 20 percent and 25.2 percent feel it has jumped 50 percent. 27.3 percent feel the amount of news has stayed about the same.
  
  

  Leading sources of online news

  1. Traditional sources of news—newspapers—are still the most-turned to sources of news.
  2. Americans most often turn to newspaper websites (73.5 percent of respondents) and news aggregator sites, such as Yahoo! or Google News (64.4 percent) for their news.
  3. Social sites do not fare as well as newspaper or aggregation sites with 31.1 percent of Americans finding news on Facebook and 11.2 percent turning to Twitter.
  4. News via email is an important source as 35.4 percent of respondents use email news alerts and 27.9 percent look to email newsletters to stay informed.
  5. 5.8 percent of respondents look to personalized news websites for news.
  
  

  Most Trusted News Sources

  1. Americans most often turn to newspaper web sites because they are viewed as the most trusted sources to gain visibility into the news and information of the day. Social sites fare poorly as trusted sources.
     1. 58.3 percent of respondents find newspaper web sites with professional editors curating the news as the most trusted news source.
     2. 22.6 percent most trust professional editors from sites like Google News or Yahoo! News.
     3. Facebook is not highly trusted, with 2.8 percent citing friends on Facebook as their most trusted source. Twitter ranks even lower, with 0.2 percent finding news from people followed on Twitter as most trustworthy.
  
  

  Benefits of News Curation

  1. Newspapers with professional editors working with—or curating—news is valued by respondents as it saves them time, surfaces vital news and makes getting important news easier.
  2. 66.5 percent see professional editors curating news as beneficial as they facilitate an easier way to get the most important news and information.
  3. More than half, 54.6 percent, note that editors surface the most important, must-read news stories.
  4. 45.8 percent feel having professional editors curate news saves them time in reading the news.
  
  

  "Good news for editors—they should take heart in that Americans highly value their role in curating the news—and find news curated by editors as most trustworthy," said Alex Kazim, Ongo Inc.'s founder and chief executive officer. "For this reason, Ongo places significant importance on news meta-curation—professional editors curating the top news from leading newspapers. This ensures the best of the best of the day's stories are always front and center while the most intriguing, must-read stories are also highlighted so readers never miss them."

  Coinciding with the survey is Ongo's new functionality, showcasing Ongo's breadth of content and experienced editorial team. The new layout design highlights curated section pages for US, World, Business, Science & Technology, Sports, Arts & Entertainment and Life, in addition to Opinion that highlights leading voices each day. In each section, Ongo has layered in news modules, making it easy to digest the top news of the day while enjoying stories likely missed otherwise.

  The Ongo standard subscription package is $1.99 a month and provides more than 800 stories to subscribers every day. The package includes comprehensive coverage from the Associated Press; a wide selection of stories from Reuters; all original Washington Post content from The Washington Post print edition; all content from USA TODAY; New York Times Picks, a selection of top stories from The New York Times; and selected content from the Financial Times.

  For further survey details, please contact Ongo at info@ongo.com.

  Download this press release as a PDF

• Ongo to Add News from Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Reuters and More Than 20 Other Publications

  The complete destination for digital news, Ongo more than doubles its library of trusted titles

  Cupertino, Calif. - May 25, 2011 - Ongo, a personal news service that brings together trusted titles in a single online destination, today announced a significant expansion with the addition of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Reuters and more than 20 other publications.

  These additions more than double the library of top news titles on Ongo, which launched Jan. 25 at www.ongo.com and as an iPad app. Ongo provides a wide range of news and information, offering more than 850 daily stories in the standard subscription package for one convenient monthly fee as well as stand-alone premium subscriptions and add-ons. Subscribers also receive access to Ongo's iPad app which allows readers to download content for offline reading when no internet connection is available.

  Ongo's experienced editorial team spotlights the most vital and interesting stories beyond the day's headlines. The service is available to subscribers through any web-enabled device and emphasizes immersive reading that is ad-free, accompanied by easy-to-use tools for searching, saving and sharing stories.

  In addition to Reuters' inclusion in Ongo's standard subscription package, other new publications available for between $0.99 and $9.99 per month as stand-alone premium subscriptions or add-ons include:

  1. Regional New York Times Company newspapers, including the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Star-News of Wilmington, NC.
  2. Los Angeles Times, the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country.
  3. Chicago Tribune, the largest newspaper in the central United States.
  4. Additional Tribune Co. newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun, Sun-Sentinel (South Florida), The Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, The Morning Call and Daily Press.
  
  

  Ongo has also added photography from Getty Images, a leading creator and distributor of still imagery, footage and multimedia products, to news stories that originally included a Getty Images photo. Ongo already provides photographs from Associated Press and from staff photographers of individual publications, as well as photographs from Reuters.

  "We're honored that many of the world's biggest media companies are turning to Ongo as a new way to bring their valuable news and information to news enthusiasts," said Alex Kazim, Ongo Inc.'s founder and chief executive officer. "We will continue to grow Ongo, adding more publications and more features to meet the needs of our readers."

  The Ongo standard subscription package is $1.99 a month and provides more than 850 stories to subscribers every day. The package includes comprehensive coverage from the Associated Press; a wide selection of stories from Reuters; all original Washington Post content from The Washington Post print edition; all content from USA TODAY; New York Times Picks, a selection of top stories from The New York Times; and selected content from the Financial Times.

  Full coverage from The Hartford Courant and Daily Press is available for $0.99 per month while the Orlando Sentinel and Sun Sentinel (South Florida) are available as "top stories" editions at $0.99 monthly or full editions for $4.95. Stand-alone subscriptions are also available from the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and The Morning Call at $9.99 per month. Full coverage from Reuters, with added topics including entertainment, health and personal finance, is available as an add-on for $9.99 per month.

  Other regional New York Times Company newspapers now available for $0.99 per month include:

  Petaluma Argus Courier	The Lexington Dispatch	The (Houma) Courier
  The (Lakeland) Ledger	Spartanburg Herald-Journal	Thibodaux Daily Comet
  Ocala Star-Banner	The Gadsden Times	The Gainesville Sun
  Hendersonville Times-News	The Tuscaloosa News	Winter Haven News Chief

  
  
  

  Ongo also features regional Gannett titles including the Detroit Free Press, The Indianapolis Star and The Tennessean amongst many others. The full list of current Ongo titles is at http://www.ongo.com/content.php.

  Subscribers with an Apple iPad can access Ongo at no additional charge through an iPad app. To find and install the app, subscribers should go to the App Store on the iPad and enter the search term "Ongo news." The Ongo iPad app is intended for reading and searching, complementing the full set of Ongo features available through a web browser.

  Download this press release as a PDF