StoneAge Corporation, an automotive buying service, announced it has selected Jumpstart Digital Marketing, Inc., an interactive media sales, marketing and technology company, specializing in maximizing automotive advertising revenue for digital publishers, to be its rep firm for local auto dealer ad sales on StoneAge.com and Car.com

In September 2002, Jumpstart Digital Marketing launched a new division to enable automotive web publishers to tap into the $7 billion that the nation’s 22,000 automotive dealers spend on advertising each year.

“As auto dealers come to realize that the Internet is increasingly used by the vast majority of new car buyers as a starting point in the buying process, we are confident that Jumpstart’s unparalleled expertise with dealers can help us capture a significant share of local dealer ad dollars that are shifting to interactive media,” says David Wassmann, Chief Marketing Officer at StoneAge Corporation. “Jumpstart provides a turnkey solution. With experience in both the automotive retail business and the media business, they have the national resources and contacts to help us be on the media radar of more than 20,000 local dealers.”

StoneAge Corporation says its StoneAge.com and Car.com do business with 1-2 million consumers and over 1,500 dealers each month. Based in metro Detroit, it is listed in the Media Metrix Top 500 websites in the U.S.

“Jumpstart’s new local online advertising sales division is designed to allow our auto web publishing partners like StoneAge.com and Car.com to stay focused on their primary businesses while we build this important new revenue stream,” says Mitch Lowe, CEO of Jumpstart.

“Dealers currently spend the bulk of their ad dollars on radio, TV and newspapers yet, with no specific radio station or TV channel where the in-market car shoppers go to listen or watch, dealers end up reaching only a very small percentage of in-market shoppers,” says Mr. Lowe “By contrast, on in-market web sites like StoneAge.com and Car.com, more than 50% of users will shop for a car in next 30 days.* The Internet is a far more cost effective medium especially when measuring the ‘true in-market’ CPM of Internet vs. radio, TV or newspapers. Increasingly, dealers will seek to reach in-market buyers through geo-targeting on major auto web sites.”

StoneAge Corporation (

://www.stoneage.com>www.stoneage.com

) founded in 1996, is currently rolling out its new Internet property, car.com. It currently employs a staff of 80.

StoneAge.com says it is the only company to receive PC Magazine’s Excellent designation in the online car buying industry. In 2000, StoneAge.com Chairman and CEO, Mark Campbell received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award.

Based in San Francisco, Jumpstart Digital Marketing, Inc. (jumpstartdm.com) is a privately held company that maximizes automotive advertising revenue for digital publishers. Founded in 2000, the company has three revenue producing services for digital publishers: National Advertising Sales Representation; Local Advertising Sales Representation; and a technology-based New Car Shopping Program that provides revenue from lead-generation.