• January 3, 2005

ThomasB2B will soon start powering sponsored search listings for news release publisher PRWeb, said ThomasB2B Ceo Dan Savage. With this move, ThomasB2B hopes to establish itself as a player in specialized search engine marketing geared toward makers of industrial electronics.

PRWeb has a query box allowing users to search its archives for press releases. The ads will appear on results pages when users type search terms into PRWeb's query box--possibly in a column next to the organic results, said PRWeb Vice President Mick Jolly.

Savage predicted the sponsored ads would be up and running within three weeks; Jolly offered a more cautious prediction--he said the ads should be available sometime during the first quarter.

ThomasB2B, a joint venture of search engine FindWhat.com and online directory company Thomas Global Register, has so far signed up about 1,500 advertisers--with a heavy concentration of manufacturers of conveyors, pumps, capacitors, and other industrial electronics.

PRWeb distributes press releases, mainly from small and mid-sized businesses, which pay PRWeb a fee. PRWeb releases also appear among results of other search engines, such as Google News and Yahoo! News.

--Wendy Davis