NEW YORK: About Inc., a division of Primedia which claims to be the leading targeted media company, has announced that Sprinks has launched two new products.

ContentSprinks and DirectSprinks, are the only pay-per-click advertising solutions built expressly to extend into content pages and opt-in email newsletters, as well as search results. Sprinks, a division of About Inc. has announced the launch of its external distribution network with the addition of content publishers, iVillage, CNET Networks and Forbes.com.

ContentSprinks are text-based ads that appear on the contextually relevant editorial pages of high-quality publishers. ContentSprinks are currently placed alongside content from some of the web's most trusted sites. DirectSprinks listings look a lot like ContentSprinks, but are bought and appear in opt-in email newsletters. DirectSprinks allow advertisers to reach customers when they're reading email newsletters from popular and trusted sites.

GM, Sprinks Lance Powell says, "Before Sprinks, bid-based sponsored links were limited to search results. But consumers spend time on pages other than search pages. They spend time on editorial pages and with email newsletters, immersed in their topic of choice. Advertisers want to reach customers wherever they may be and 'non-search' publishers are eager to capitalise on the growth of the pay-per-click model. With the addition of iVillage, CNET Networks and Forbes.com, we are now giving advertisers access to more relevant and targetted audiences in contextual environments."

With ContentSprinks and DirectSprinks users on a destination site or looking for information about apartments, for example, would be presented with advertising that is contextually relevant to the topic. In this case this would mean ssponsored links from rental agencies, movers and closet-organisation systems. Since advertisers bid by category and not keyword, the relevant ads are not limited to the keyword itself.

Primedia claims to be leading the industry with its concept of targeted scale through its combination of traditional and new media properties. The company capitalises on its focused content across print, television, the Internet and live events to offer highly effective integrated advertising and marketing solutions in some of the most sought after advertising demographic sectors including teens, automotive, outdoor, luxury, real estate and business-to-business segments.