USPS address change site links to advertisers

The Postal Service today unveiled the first official online change-of-address service, at , which is accessible from . The site, in partnership with a private company, links people to selected companies advertising goods and services needed for relocation.Most agencies have shunned online commercial advertising, on the grounds that it implies government endorsement, among other reasons. Only a handful of state and local governments have entered into agreements to post ads on their sites.Users who visit the USPS site and click on Change Address are linked to MoversGuide.com, a Web site operated by Imagitas of Waltham, Mass. The company has built businesses related to postal address changes since 1993, when it agreed with USPS to provide services and advertising, as well as address-change forms, to people on the move.Imagitas provides the change of address service to the government without charge. But MoversGuide.com uses the Postal Service logo as a frame as it guides visitors to other purchases and rentals related to moving, such as packing materials from AllBoxes Direct LLC of Woodbury, N.Y., rental trucks from Ryder System Inc. of Miami and telephone service from Verizon Communications Inc.About 17 percent of the nation’s population—more than 41 million people—move each year, according to USPS. The service spends more than $1.5 billion annually processing undeliverable mail, a cost it seeks to reduce by encouraging people to complete change-of-address forms.MoversGuide.com uses digital certificates provided by VeriSign Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., for user authentication.