American Idol Has Gone To The Dogs

With 1000s of dogs and cats competing for the coveted YapStar Contest, Ruby Blue Eyes, takes the crown with 11225 Votes received from pet lovers across the United States and beyond. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) September 09, 2009 - With Ruby's striking features - her gorgeous blue eyes and sweet face - it's no wonder why she had fans across the country cheering her on to be crowned "The YapStar". Ruby's owner, Ellen Wexler gave us a lesson in the power of social networks and how her love for Ruby spurred her on to reach marketing heights corporate execs would envy. This incredible marketing effort across numerous social networking sites [such as Twitter, Facebook, Craig's List and others] and her daily emails to all her loyal fans paid off.

Winner of a Pet Portrait by Justine Osborne and a San Francisco Pet Holiday sponsored by W Hotel, George’s, Bella & Daisy's and Wags Pet Wash, Ellen was motivated to win the San Francisco Pet Holiday to visit her 85 year old father. She tells us a bit about her strategy and how she won, “I implemented a plan... Each day I fashioned a post with the subject line reading "Ruby's Daily Vote". I attached a new photo and the link each day. Friends got on the bandwagon and posted their own photos to their own friends. Word spread, thanks to my amazing friends who shared with their friends. So here we are - my sweet girl dog has won! Thank you YapStar and my amazing family, friends and fans.”

YapStar.com combines 3 of the most loved past times: Pets, Art and Social Networking. Combine that with Local Search and Review and America’s recent voting craze and you have YapStar.com! The site is of course for people crazy about their pets, and can get quite competitive. Each contest lasts four months and is decided by the number of votes received.

But YapStar doesn’t stop there. This is a place where pet lovers can connect with one another online, share experiences and search and review local pet services, ranging from veterinarians to boutiques and dog-friendly dining in hometowns across the US. YapStar is the equivalent of hanging out at your neighborhood dog park, and asking, "hey, does anyone know of a good vet in town?" and getting the real scoop on the good and bad from a trusted source, a community of passionate pet lovers.

And for the pet lover looking for the coolest pet products out there, check out YapStar Coolpicks. "In the real world we ask our friends and family, 'What products do you use?' to help us discover the products that will be the best for our pets. At YapStar we take the combination of our user’s recommendations and our 10 years experience in the pet industry to bring to our users what we consider to be the best of the best pet products. The rest is up to our users, to ask each other, “What do you think is cool?” in a fun, and productive way."

YapStar’s new pet contest starts September 20, 2009 and runs through February 1, 2010 and the prizes just keep getting better: a New York City Pet Holiday with roundtrip airfare for 2 and a pet sponsored by Midwest Airlines, Loews Regency Hotel, Happy Paws Pet Resort, Pet Express Pet Taxi, Wagwear and Gavroche French Restaurant along with Pet Portraits by Suzanne Berry and Heather LaHaise and other incredible prizes.

CONTACT: Laurie Martin, CEO, lmartin ( @ ) yapstar dot com, 415 dot 419 dot 5860

To download an image of Ruby, the winner of the YapStar Contest, go to: www.yapstar.com/images/ruby.jpg

To view all YapStar Winners, go to: www.yapstar.com/content/pet_contest_winners.php

To view current contest prize details, go to: www.yapstar.com/content/pet_contest_prizes.php

To download the media kit, go to: www.yapstar.com/media/media.php

http://www.yapstar.com

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