From 1 May, Interest.co.nz will use the services of Trade Me's display advertising sales team to secure and grow its online advertising revenue. The merger of Think Digital into Adhub has resulted in online Interest.co.nz choosing to move away from the merged operation to be represented by New Zealand's biggest site, Trade Me. The move means Interest.co.nz will be the first external website to have advertising exclusively sold by Trade Me, whose network of sites includes Travelbug, Holiday Houses, FindSomeone and Old Friends. Trade Me has steadily built up a comprehensive display advertising sales team over the past two years of selling inventory across its auction, motors, property and jobs sites. Michael Gregg, Trade Me's advertising director, said he was proud to have his team representing Interest.co.nz. "From humble beginnings Interest.co.nz has become a must read for anyone interested in business, finance or economics in New Zealand," said Gregg. "The specialist focus of Interest.co.nz complements the advertising available across our general auction site and particularly the Trade Me Property site," he said.

"The growth of Interest.co.nz to over 1 million page impressions in March demonstrates New Zealanders' growing interest in financial matters in these volatile times and specifically the likely impact on interest rates for their mortgages and savings." The owner and publisher of Interest.co.nz, David Chaston, said the shift to Trade Me had opened up a big new opportunity for Interest.co.nz and its advertisers. "We are thrilled to have formed this advertising partnership with Trade Me. It is clearly the largest and most successful online business in New Zealand, and has a great team of advertising specialists in Auckland and Wellington," Chaston said. "We also see many opportunities to work together to help both our groups of readers find more useful information and tools for their personal finances on each others' sites," he said. Agridata.co.nz, which is a sister site of interest.co.nz, will also represented by Trade Me. Effective from 1 May 2009, both interest.co.nz and agridata.co.nz will be represented exclusively by Trade Me. Effective immediately, advertising agencies looking at advertising on interest.co.nz should contact: Yael Milbank, Advertising Sales Manager, Trade Me, 09 373 8560, 027 454 9052 or email yael@trademe.co.nz