SOURCE: NeoEdge Networks, Inc.

April 02, 2008 08:00 ET

Ty Levine Takes Marketing Helm at NeoEdge

Internet Marketing Veteran Will Evangelize the Emergence of Casual Games in the Advertising Market

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - April 2, 2008) - NeoEdge Networks, Inc., an innovator in delivering advertising solutions for casual games, has appointed Ty Levine to lead its marketing efforts. As VP of Marketing, Levine -- an industry veteran with broad experience with Internet, media and advertising companies -- will help evangelize the emergence of casual games as the most promising new avenue for interactive advertising.

"Ty is widely respected with impressive wins across the three industries that matter most to NeoEdge -- the Web, media and advertising," said NeoEdge CEO, Alex Terry. "As we continue to evolve our advertising marketplace offerings, Ty's strategic, creative and managerial abilities will benefit everyone in our ecosystem."

Levine has spent the better part of the last 15 years working for traditional and new media companies in either a marketing or business development function. Most recently he was Director of Marketing at BlueLithium, a leading online ad network, which was acquired in October 2007 by Yahoo.

During his career Levine was an early employee at DMI, a startup division of Infinity Broadcasting/CBS focusing on the then budding interactive personals/dating genre. He was responsible for one of the first truly convergent media marketing programs while at Infoseek. From 1999-2001 as Senior Director of Marketing at Knight Ridder Digital, he led the launch of the Real Cities Network helping it to grow from fifth place to second among local portal networks. During this time, Knight Ridder properties user acquisition and retention grew by more than 27 percent. He also relaunched CareerBuilder.com, for Knight Ridder after Knight Ridder purchased it along with the Tribune Companies.

Market is "Poised to Take Off"

The $35 billion-plus gaming industry continues to gain momentum as a popular consumer pastime. In fact, gaming is now the #3 most common consumer activity on personal computers (behind email and Web surfing only). According to a recent survey by Parks Associates, 34 percent of U.S. Internet users play online games every week -- more than the number of people who visit social networks or online video-sharing sites.

According to a recent report by eMarketer, advertising for games is expected to reach $1.9 billion by 2011. This advertising opportunity is particularly great in the casual gaming segment. The latest Casual Games Association report stated that more than 200 million consumers are playing casual games each month.

NeoEdge has already taken a commanding lead in this market. More than 30 top game publishers are working with NeoEdge to monetize more than 300 games.

"The casual game advertising market is poised to take off, and NeoEdge is uniquely qualified to lead the way with game publishers, portals and advertisers," said Levine. "It's an exciting time to be joining the company, and I look forward to working with its many friends, customers and partners."

About NeoEdge Networks, Inc.

NeoEdge Networks, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, California, is a pioneer of the ad-supported game industry. In close partnership with game publishers, portals and advertisers, NeoEdge is revolutionizing the causal gaming experience by providing safe, simple and profitable ad-supported game play through its patent-pending NeoARM™ technology suite and NeoAds™ Game Advertising Network. NeoEdge had built a robust and scalable online medium that allows advertisers to target an untapped demographic with rich video game commercials and enables a new ad-supported business model for game publishers and portals. For more information about NeoEdge Networks, please visit the company's website at www.neoedge.com or to experience free to play casual games with advertising visit www.MostFun.com.