PEOPLES BANCORP INC. - P.O. BOX 738 - MARIETTA, OHIO - 45750
                                                          www.peoplesbancorp.com


                                  NEWS RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           Contact: Mark F. Bradley
---------------------                    President & Chief Executive Officer
August 11, 2005                          (740) 373-3155

                              PEOPLES BANCORP INC.
                        INCREASES THIRD QUARTER DIVIDEND
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------


         MARIETTA, Ohio - The Board of Directors of Peoples Bancorp Inc.
(NASDAQ: PEBO) today declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share payable on
October 1, 2005, to shareholders of record at September 15, 2005.
         The third quarter dividend reflects a payout of approximately $2.1
million based on 10.5 million shares outstanding at August 10, and reflects a
11.1% increase over the $0.18 per share dividend paid in the third quarter of
2004 and a 5.3% increase over the $0.19 per share paid in the second quarter of
2005.
          Peoples Bancorp Inc., a diversified financial products and services
company with $1.8 billion in assets, makes available a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance, and trust solutions through 50 locations and 34 ATMs in
Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Peoples' financial service units include
Peoples Bank, Peoples Financial Advisors (a division of Peoples Bank) and
Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc. Peoples' common shares are traded on the NASDAQ
national market under the symbol "PEBO", and Peoples is a member of the Russell
3000 index of US publicly traded companies. Learn more about Peoples at
www.peoplesbancorp.com.


                                 END OF RELEASE