08/07/2007

Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), a supplier of application infrastructure software used to develop, deploy, integrate and manage business applications, today announced the newest version of Progress(R) EasyAsk(R) search, navigation and merchandising software designed to significantly improve e-commerce performance.

ebizQ received the following:

The new 64-bit platform enhancement delivers a dramatic increase in both performance and scalability, and will support online catalogues consisting of several million items that can be easily searched, found and purchased. Cache performance has also been improved so that browsers and online shoppers experience a faster return to previously searched items. Additionally, the size of the search index has been compressed by 30%, and up to 50% less memory is required, both of which contribute significantly to overall improved performance.

This latest EasyAsk software release provides several unique capabilities that deliver e-commerce's most comprehensive product search, navigation and merchandising capability resulting in higher conversion rates(1). A complete list of the EasyAsk product capabilities can be found at www.progress.com/easyask/capabilities.

According to the Aberdeen Group(2), more than 70% of the leading online retailers reported that visitors to their site who utilized Web-site search tools such as EasyAsk were more likely to convert from browsers to buyers. Larry Harris, vice president and general manager of EasyAsk products commented: "Our goal is to provide the most powerful e-commerce search, navigation and merchandising software that helps buyers connect to products they're seeking with minimum effort. EasyAsk software is consistently rated by Nielsen//NetRatings(3) as achieving higher conversion rates(4) than e-commerce sites using other search technology."