Classified Ventures
announces the addition of
The San Diego Union-Tribune
to its network of affiliated newspapers

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February 17, 2000 – Chicago – Classified Ventures, Inc. today announced the addition of The San Diego Union-Tribune to its network of 135 affiliated newspapers. As the leading provider of buying information in the on-line classified advertising marketplace, Classified Ventures brings national scale and distribution to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s market leading Web initiatives at www.signonsandiego.com.

Scheduled for April 2000, SignOnSanDiego.com will launch Classified Venture’s cars.com, the leading online automotive shopping site. By logging onto SignOnSanDiego.com and selecting cars.com, local consumers will be able to search for new and used vehicles from local and national dealership inventories and San Diego Union-Tribune classified listings, while accessing a wide range of practical information including financing and insurance quotes.

The addition of the San Diego Union-Tribune marks the second non-investor affiliate to join the Classified Ventures network. The San Diego Union-Tribune is the largest daily in the market with a Sunday circulation of nearly a half million. SignOnSanDiego.com is the most trafficked local site in San Diego with 20 percent market penetration.

"San Diego is a very attractive car market; and SignOnSanDiego.com is the major local player with 60 dealers online," said David Israel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Classified Ventures. "Our affiliation with the San Diego Union-Tribune further improves Classified Venture’s penetration of major California metro markets. We will now have large affiliates in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Bay Area (San Jose), and the Central Valley (Sacramento, Modesto, and Fresno)."

"Car and truck shoppers already use SignOnSanDiego.com to search San Diego automobile dealer inventory and research vehicle purchases," said Jim Drummond, General Manager for SignOnSanDiego.com. "By teaming with Classified Ventures we are able to offer our users a national database creating an even more powerful search engine for vehicles for sale."

About Classified Ventures

Classified Ventures, Inc. provides nationally branded online services for the developing e-commerce opportunities in the classified advertising market place that build upon the capabilities and local expertise of a national affiliate network of more than 135 newspapers. The company currently operates the national Web sites Apartments.com™, www.apartments.com, cars.com™, www.cars.com, Moving Center™, www.movingcenter.com and NewHomeNetwork.com™, www.newhomenetwork.com. Classified Ventures, Inc. also operates HomeHunter™, a local resale real estate service.

Classified Ventures, Inc., based in Chicago, was formed by eight leading media companies — Central Newspapers, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., Knight Ridder, The McClatchy Company, The New York Times Company, The Times Mirror Company, Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company.

About cars.com

Cars.com simplifies local new and used car shopping on the Internet. With Inventory in 26 of the top 30 U.S. markets, cars.com is the only automotive Web site to provide daily updates of dealer inventories. Cars.com allows consumers to search vehicle listings by zip code, vehicle make, model and year and easily submit a quote request to a car dealer by e-mail, fax or telephone. In addition to vehicle pricing, cars.com provides consumers with trusted automotive information, including rich editorial content pertaining to real-life issues such as how to purchase a vehicle and tips for parents of young drivers. The site also provides consumers with tools such as an auto loan calculator, news and reports on new and used vehicles, more than 3,500 independent vehicle reviews (from 1983 to the present), vehicle performance data and vehicle recall information. Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, which is based in Chicago.

About SignOnSanDiego.com and The San Diego Union Tribune

SignOnSanDiego.com is the Web site of the Union-Tribune Publishing Company. In addition to providing the full resources of The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, SignOnSanDiego.com reflects its unique knowledge of San Diego with a comprehensive City Guide, on-line shopping and business directory services and complete on-line Employment and Real Estate products. In addition to this affiliation with cars.com, SignOnSanDiego.com is affiliated with Ticketmaster Online - CitySearch, Inc. The Web site also includes specialized transportation content sections with its Offroad Center, RV Center, and Boat Center.

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