PRWeb is getting faster.

As part of a new set of features to be released starting today and rolled out over the next two weeks, the online press release distributor is now offering priority distribution -- which lets customers upload and distribute their press releases in just 1 hour.

While pricing wasn't finalized when PRWeb briefed me last week, they said it would be about $100 a release and could be used with any distribution. This is an important development, as the next-day and 2-day distributions available previously were simply insufficient when working with clients making last-minute changes.

Other new features include the ability to:

• Specify the time of day a release will be distributed
• Include a release in media digests emailed to reporters every morning (based both on speciality and region)

PRWeb is at it again.

The company, a pioneer in the online press release, today announced the ability to embed video into releases.

To do this, PRWeb customers first need to upload their video clips to online video services including YouTube and Google Video. Then, those clips can be embedded directly into their press releases.

PRWeb said this new feature, called Feature Video, is available in its Media Visibility distribution, which costs $360 per release.

Technorati Tags: prweb, press release, video, web 2.0

PRWeb, the online press release distributor, continues to press into the social media space. Yesterday, it announced the availability of a "Blog This" link in its press releases.

This is a nice addition. Basically, if you are reading a PRWeb release, you can click the link and directly post to your blog. (You need to set up an account with PRWeb, as it holds your blog login info.)

Personally, I've always been a big fan of PRWeb. Its releases do very well with search engines and provide a nice, clean presentation with all the bells and whistles you could want. And it is a very, very good value for the dollar.

Press releases sit at the center of many PR campaigns, and with recent advances in Internet technology the release itself is in the midst of substantial change.

As we're written before, the value of the press release has been made particularly clear this year with the acquisition of a number of important players, including PRWeb, U.S. Newswire and even Warren Buffett's purchase of Business Wire.

The Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast takes on this issue in Episode 13 -- Press Release Mergermania.

The online press release just took a big step forward.

Business Wire and PRWeb, a unit of Vocus, announced today that they have created a partnership to combine Business Wire's broadly distributed press releases with PRWeb's search engine optimized, online release offerings. The partners described the new effort in a release of their own:

Clearly, the acquisition of online press release distributor PRWeb by Vocus, Inc. underscores the importance of the modern press release in today's Web 2.0 world.

I discussed this in my Aug. 7 post when the transaction was announced. Now, my podcast, Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer, digs a bit deeper.

Those of you who read this blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer, are aware of the growing importance of the press release.

Highlighting the press release's rise in stature, today PRWeb -- in one of its own press releases, of course -- announced it is being acquired by Vocus, a provider of PR software, for $28 million in cash and Vocus stock.

Press releases have taken on a life of their own.  They can be posted on the Internet, e-mailed, included in blog entries, complemented with podcasts, put out on RSS feeds and more...

We've talked about this before.  But an announcement today from PRWeb highlights just how far the press release has come.

PRWeb, an online press release distributor, is making available to its clients a new search engine optimization tool -- a wizard that will let communicators analyze their releases to see how they will score with search engines like Google and Yahoo!  Here's how PRWeb describes it: 

When I began in the news business, press releases were simply meant for the press.  If a reporter decided to write about the release, then it was a success.  If not, that was pretty much the end of it. 

No more.  Today, press releases can be accessed online through Web sites and search engines.  They can be e-mailed, put onto RSS feeds and complemented with podcasts.  Just name it.  The real question for communicators is this: What is the proper audience for the press release today?