openPR

Review:

openPR caters to small businesses that want to take their company news to the public but don't have a public relations budget. They are totally free of charge, although businesses can only submit one free press release per month. Companies that want to post more than one press release per month can purchase credits.

Pros:

• Press releases are distributed to Google News, as well as various decision-makers and policy-makers worldwide.
• The platform provides a good level of media exposure.
• Press releases can be submitted across a broad spectrum of categories, including arts and culture, business, finance, and more.
• Users can include backlinks to their websites on the press release.
• openPR has a section with tips and advice on how to write an effective press release that garners attention.
• Users can upload images with their press releases.
• All releases are readily available to journalists and the public, without them having to create an account first.
• Businesses can request that openPR write the press release on their behalf.
• Users can also post a banner ad for free on the openPR website.

Cons:

• Making a deletion or correction will cost €10.00 +VAT per release.
• Free press releases are limited to one per month.
• openPR's offices are in Germany, and there is no international office or alternative telephone number.
• There are no advanced targeting options to ensure that press releases are reaching a specific segment of a business's target market.

Reputation:

openPR is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, although they do boast healthy figures of over 2 million press releases by more than 200,000 authors, giving it credibility. Furthermore, each press release is reviewed by openPR before being processed, which filters out spam and helps build a credible reputation in the eyes of journalists.