MGM, Simon & Schuster, Fox International Channels, Turner Sports and More Than 2500 Others Are Live with Gigya Socialize

Gigya’s Technology Makes it Easy for Publishers to Implement Facebook Connect, MySpaceID, Sign in with Twitter and OpenID

• Press Release
• Source: Gigya, Inc.
• On 12:04 pm EST, Thursday November 5, 2009

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gigya, Inc., today announced that more than 2500 companies and sites, including Turner Sports for their NBA, NASCAR & PGA webcasts, and Simon & Schuster for their local author appearances, are live with the company’s Socialize technology. Gigya’s authentication and social technology makes it easy for publishers to implement the functionality provided by Facebook Connect, MySpaceID, and Twitter Connect, and Y!OS, as well as OpenID providers like AOL Mail and Gmail.

Gigya‘s technology will enable Fox to make its web properties social,” said Dario DAprile, Director, Global Online Publishing, Fox International Channels “These new tools will help us to enrich the online experiences of our significant global audiences.”

“One of the primary goals of the new Simon & Schuster website is to connect readers and fans with authors,” said Adrian Norman, Vice President, Marketing & New Products, Simon & Schuster Digital. “Now Gigya helps extend that capability by enabling readers to easily connect with their friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter around the authors they love.”

Gigya’s launch partners have applied Gigya’s social and authentication technology in a variety of ways that are appropriate to the unique user experience on each site. They have also taken advantage of the many ways Gigya’s technology can be implemented technically, from using the full API, to implementing via a plug-in, to using turn-key applications as Turner Sports did with Gigya’s live chat application.

These publishers have implemented Gigya Socialize with a variety of goals, including increasing site registrations, deepening user engagement on their sites, building their own communities and distributing their content across the social web. Publishers that have implemented Socialize have full control over the specific functionality they implement, from enabling users to login with their social network or webmail identities, to designing ways for users to connect with friends in the specific context of each site’s activities, and providing them opportunities to publish that activity into the social networks to drive traffic back to the site.

Simon & Schuster is enabling readers and fans to easily notify their Facebook, Twitter and MySpace friends of author events such as Lance Armstrong’s upcoming appearances in the NY area. Turner Sports enabled online viewers of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on TNT OverTime Extra on NBA.com and TNT RaceBuddy on NASCAR.com to chat with their Facebook, MySpace and Twitter friends and send status updates into those networks during the live events. MGM is using the technology to promote new shows.

“Gigya’s technology allows us to engage existing Stargate fans and activate dialogue around our content while introducing the Stargate Universe to potential new fans in their preferred social network,” said MGM’s VP of Worldwide Digital Media, Thomas Hughes.

“People should be able to take their identity and friends with them no matter where they are on the Web,” said David A. Yovanno, Gigya’s CEO. “From News to eCommerce to Entertainment, almost any site can better engage and grow its audience by creating a user-centric and social experience, one that makes use of newly available technologies to enable a more streamlined, personalized, engaging and ultimately sharable experience. Gigya is making it easy.”

Example sites and companies that have implemented Gigya Socialize:

• Amuso.com
• Audible
• Complex Media
• Crowd Factory
• Mego
• Stargate.mgm.com
• MTV Canada
• MuchMusic.com
• NASCAR.com
• Natgeoadventure.tv
  (Fox International Channels)
• NBA.com
• PGA.com
• PGATOUR.com
• Podomatic
• Polls Boutique
• Reality Digital
• Reverbnation
• RocketOn
• Seeking Alpha
• Simon & Schuster
• TNT.tv
• TVO

About Gigya

Gigya’s technology opens the social web for publishers and marketers, providing powerful tools that increase audience reach and engagement. The company’s social and authentication technology enables publishers to integrate and promote their own websites with social networks including Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and to syndicate and track their content across more than 70 unique platforms. Gigya reaches more than 250 million people each month on its rich media social advertising network, enabling marketers to engage consumers in social environments and enlist them as brand advocates. Publishers and advertisers working with Gigya include: CBS, Coca-Cola, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts, Hyundai, JCPenney, Levis, MTV, Photobucket, Samsung, Turner, Unilever and Walmart. For more information, please visit: www.gigya.com.

WIT Strategy
Mark Naples, 646-265-7372
mnaples@witstrategy.com