CityXpress Corp., a leading provider of auctions for newspapers, announced that the Bristol Evening Post owned by Northcliffe Newspapers Group Ltd. in the United Kingdom recently completed a successful online auction. The Bristol auction was the first international initiative for CityXpress, and sets the stage for an aggressive expansion by the company with newspapers in the U.K., Switzerland and Germany, according to Phil Dubois, president and CEO of CityXpress.

"We continue to prove in North America that our model for online auctions really works," Dubois said. "Our successes in the United States and Canada have piqued the interest of publishers in Europe, enabling us to expand into several international markets. This positive reception confirms our belief that every newspaper is seeking ways to increase value for advertisers and find new sources of revenue. CityXpress achieves both of these goals while enhancing the experience for a newspaper's readers."

The Evening Post auction featured 84 advertisers, 40 of whom were new to the paper. Northcliffe is planning to do three additional auctions in 2004 and thirteen more in early 2005 from among its 20 daily newspaper titles.

CityXpress will be conducting its next European auction with the Berner Zeitung, a 132,000 circulation daily in Bern, Switzerland. The Bern auction opens on June 22, 2004.

Newspaper auctions are online events put on by local newspapers with goods and services provided by advertisers in exchange for exposure through the auction and advertising credits that are earned if the advertisers' items sell. Each event typically takes place over 10 days and generates new customers and increased store-traffic for advertisers, good deals for consumers and direct revenue for newspapers.