Star Tribune Partners With CarSoup.com to Power Website Auto Search

MINNEAPOLIS ― (March 6, 2012) ― Star Tribune Media Company LLC and CarSoup.com, two local market leaders in automotive advertising services, have created an alliance to leverage the two companies’ strengths in the Twin Cities market. Star Tribune has selected CarSoup.com’s technology to power its online search at StarTribune.com/autos. Both company’s sales teams will continue to work independently to promote and sell their own unique media solutions to the auto industry.

“We’ve put together two strong Minnesota brands with great brand recognition and terrific reach,” said Jeff Griffing, Chief Revenue Officer of the StarTribune. “This combination will benefit both car sellers and buyers throughout the state.”

“We’re excited to put these two powerful regional brands together,” said Larry Cuneo, founder and CEO of CarSoup.com. “We’re proud to be the auto search provider for Star Tribune and we’re looking forward to continuing to set the bar high for serving consumers in this market.”

CarSoup.com was founded in the Twin Cities in 1998 and is ranked among the top Minnesota e-commerce companies. It operates a national website and mobile platform, with a CarSoup iPad app set to launch in April.

The Star Tribune and StarTribune.com together reach more than 70% of the Twin Cities market every month. The Star Tribune was voted Hottest Regional Newspaper in the country by Adweek and has had 24 straight months of print circulation gains. StarTribune.com is the dominant regional news website with more than six million unique visitors a month.