VerticalResponse Joins Return Path's Bonded Sender Program as an Authorized Reseller

Agreement Improves Deliverability Rates for Permission-Based Email

SAN FRANCISCO - MAY, 17 2005 - VerticalResponse (www.verticalresponse.com), a leading provider of self-service and customized direct marketing solutions, has announced it will become a reseller of the Return Path® Bonded Sender Program, (www.bondedsender.com). More than 35,000 ISPs, corporate domains and universities recognize the Bonded Sender Program—powered by Return Path and certified by TRUSTe—as the premier third-party email accreditation service. 

Qualified VerticalResponse customers can join the program to help boost their overall email deliverability by reaching more inboxes and avoiding spam filters and bulk folders.  The Bonded Sender Program accepts only "best of breed" mailers. In addition, companies must post a financial bond for the emails they send, which is then debited each time a spam complaint is received for as a result of their campaigns.

The Bonded Sender Program maintains a list of approved mail servers.  As an approved reseller, VerticalResponse has specific servers within this list. The Bonded Sender Program shares this information with ISPs and corporate domains so they can identify legitimate incoming email.  The result is often a higher delivery rate for senders in the program as email campaigns are not mistaken for spam.  VerticalResponse will accept existing customers into the Program and post the financial bond on their behalf only after they've passed a screening and account review process. 

"We want to ensure that our customers, both large and small, benefit from the best practices they've employed to grow their lists." said Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse. "Reliable email deliverability is the backbone of any successful Email Service Provider and we are excited to offer proven, value-added solutions like Bonded Sender to our customers."

"The Bonded Sender Program only accepts email providers that meet the strictest email standards," said George Bilbrey, VP & GM of Return Path's Deliverability Assurance Solutions.  "Because VerticalResponse meets the reseller standards for this service, their customers can now benefit by working with them to be accredited and accepted into the program."

About Return Path, Inc.

Founded in 1999, Return Path is an email performance management company dedicated to improving the reach, delivery performance and overall success of permission-based email programs. More than 1,500 companies use Return Path's services to generate superior results from their email programs, taking advantage of Return Path's pioneering innovation in deliverability, ECOA, list hygiene, double-opt-in list acquisition and best practices strategy. Solutions include list maintenance, deliverability, data acquisition, online sampling, marketing technology and email strategy. Return Path Delivery Assurance Solutions are the industry's original and premier email deliverability tools and services, including the Bonded Sender Program for email accreditation, and remain the only full-circle solution for solving email deliverability issues. The company's investors include Sutter Hill Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital, Flatiron Partners, and JP Morgan Partners. For more information, please visit www.returnpath.net, email info@returnpath.net, or call toll-free 866-362-4577.

About TRUSTe

TRUSTe is the leading online privacy brand. Founded in 1997, TRUSTe maintains the largest privacy seal program with over 1,300 Web sites certified throughout the world including AOL, Microsoft, IBM, Nationwide and the New York Times. Its seal programs are considered Safe Harbors for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the EU Safe Harbor Framework. As an independent, nonprofit organization, TRUSTe is dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world. TRUSTe's mission extends standards, certification and oversight into wireless and into email with the Bonded Sender program. For more information on TRUSTe please visit www.truste.org.

About VerticalResponse

VerticalResponse, Inc., a leading provider of self-service and customized direct marketing solutions, empowers small and medium sized businesses to build, control and measure their own direct marketing campaigns. The company's flagship product, iBuilder, is the most intuitive Web-based direct marketing solution on the market, allowing customers to deliver highly sophisticated and easy-to-deploy email marketing campaigns as well as printed postcard campaigns for delivery through the US Postal Service. Today, thousands of businesses, including Brookstone Company, Country Clutter, The Breast Cancer Fund, Silverado Vineyards, S&S Worldwide and SalesLogix have deployed iBuilder to power their direct marketing programs. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California.