40,000 PEOPLE A DAY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FREE LOCATION-BASED LOOKUP SERVICE

Melissa Data releases stats on the most searched categories 
from their 18 specialized databases 

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (October 1, 2003) – Data quality software provider Melissa Data today announced the most commonly used categories of their free Internet-based search tool: Zip-City-Phone, Phone Numbers, and U.S. Addresses. These top three databases average more than 340,000 page views a day, demonstrating that value-added Internet search tools are still one of the most popular uses of the Net.

“Our service is a treasure chest of data solutions that we freely share with the public to demonstrate the value of our data and to highlight our core products,” said president and founder Raymond Melissa. “The Free LookUps are the most commonly used pages on our Web site, and the number of visitors and page views reveals an important Internet trend – people need and are looking for easier ways to make the Web work for them.”

The search tools work by allowing input of variations of street names, area codes, partial or whole telephone numbers, or ZIP codes. The data returned by Melissa Data enables users to verify mailing addresses, update phone numbers, and access the latest demographic data on states, cities and counties. 

The search service also allows users to find contributors to federal elections, locate non-profit organizations, and learn about U.S. place names. One unique search is the phone number lookup. With this feature, a user can easily trace the origin of a phone call from a caller ID service.

Melissa Data has spent hundreds of hours of programming time to build an efficient suite of tools and services to make this data easily accessible from a single location. Moreover, Melissa Data is continually certified by the U.S. Postal Service to use and distribute address data, a guarantee of accuracy and reliability. The benefits of accurate data can be measured in lower operating costs and better deliverability of important business communications. 

Additional Uses of the Free LookUps Engine
Melissa Data’s search databases can also be used to: 1) locate post offices, 2) display area codes or ZIP codes within a radius, 3) calculate the distance between any two ZIP codes, 4) find Canadian address and phone data, 5) get location information on worldwide place names, 6) find the time zone of a phone number, 7) find out average home values, 7) access U.S. tax statistics, and 8) order mailing lists.

About Melissa Data
Celebrating its 20th year in business, Melissa Data, the Data Superstore, helps companies manage and optimize their contact data. Melissa Data provides solutions for address and phone number validation, postal coding, data enhancements and sales leads. Every day more than 70,000 people visit the company’s Web site. A powerful line of software, databases, programming tools, and hygiene services has made Melissa Data a recognized leader in the data quality industry. For more information, or to request trial software, contact Melissa Data at 1-800-800-6245 or visit www.melissadata.com