News out in the UK:
Dialog Joins With Netscape To Drive Desktop Growth
Credit Card Access to Specialized Business, Science and Technology
Portals opens up New Market of over 150 Million Internet Users for
Dialog Databases.
London, England and Cary, N.C.: Oct. 4, 1999: The Information Services
Division of The Dialog Corporation (LSE: DLG, NASDAQ: DIAL), a leading
provider of Internet-based information, technology and e-commerce
solutions to the corporate market, today announced the introduction of
a suite of professional Internet portals accessible from Dialog's
homepage (www.dialog.com) and targeted at the business, science and
technology markets.
Professional researchers in the world's largest corporations have
relied on Dialog for authoritative information for more than 25 years.
The launch of these new professional portals marks the first time the
world's largest commercial online information collection is available
to any Internet user on a "pay-per-view" basis, via credit card
billing. It also delivers one of Dialog's key strategic objectives -
to open up the wealth of the Dialog databanks to a much wideraudience.
"When we acquired Knight-Ridder Information in 1997, we stated that a
key objective would be to leverage the vast content of the Dialog
databases," said Dan Wagner, Dialog's Chief Executive. "Since then, we
have progressively moved forward the technology facilitating Internet
and intranet access to those databases. Now, we are taking the next
logical step forward in that strategy of opening up access to Dialog
by enabling any professional to search Dialog and pay by credit card
on the Internet."
Combining Custom Netcenter's consumer content, offered by Netscape
Communications Corporation - a subsidiary of America Online, Inc.
(NYSE:AOL) - with key content from Dialog's superior business,
scientific and technical information databases, Dialog's portals now
offer a unique destination for Internet users who need access to
professional information while simultaneously accessing weather,
sports and other consumer data from the Internet. The three portals
initially being offered - each targeted to a specific market sector -
are business (www.dialog.com/business), science
(www.dialog.com/science) and technology (www.dialog.com/technology).
The portals, which may be personalized to meet the user's exact areas
of interest, offer information from more than 50,000 of the most
respected publications in the world, including market research
reports, journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters and newswires.
Subject areas include business, chemistry, engineering, environment,
government, medicine, and pharmaceuticals. Dialog's advanced
technology enables users to conduct precise searches in only a matterof seconds.
"The combination of Dialog's broad content offerings, integrated with
Custom Netcenter's custom portal services, provides a powerful
Internet portal solution," said Jim Martin, senior vice president of
Netscape and general manager of Netscape Netcenter. "Netscape is proud
to be able to offer this important service along with The DialogCorporation."
Wagner added, "Millions of people who don't have access to
professional information databases waste time and effort searching for
so-called 'free' information on the Web. The fact is, it's not free if
you have spent a lot of valuable time searching for information that
may not be reliable. These simple and secure solutions provide those
millions of Internet users with a way to get whatever information they
need, when they need it, in one place."
Each portal delivers a wealth of free, personalized information and
services relevant to the user's profession, area of expertise and
interests. Users can personalize their own Internet pages with
customized stock listings, news, weather, sports and travel
information. Additional services include web searches, web-based
e-mail, personalized calendars, address books and bookmarks.
Users do not need to pay a subscription fee, nor are they charged to
search for information on any of the Dialog portals. The user only
needs to pay for the information they decide to buy, by giving their
credit card number on a secure site. Charges range from 20 cents to
$20 depending on the type of information purchased, and the Dialog
portals currently support payment by Master Card or Visa.
The Dialog portals are available via The Dialog Corporation's homepage
at www.dialog.com, or directly at:http://www.dialog.com/business
dialog.com dialog.com Ends -
About The Dialog Corporation
The Dialog Corporation (http://www.dialog.com) is a leading provider
of Internet-based information, technology and e-commerce solutions to
the corporate market, created by the merger of M.A.I.D. plc and
Knight-Ridder Information Inc. The Dialog Corporation brands include
the DIALOG, DataStar and Profound range of products and services.
These brands provide comprehensive, authoritative sources of
information to professionals worldwide. The Dialog Corporation has
world headquarters in London and US headquarters in Cary, N.C. Its
American Depositary Shares (ADS) are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol
'DIAL' with four Ordinary Shares comprising one ADS; its Ordinary
Shares trade on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol 'DLG.'
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is
the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet
technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates:
two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 17
million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members;
several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger
and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals;
the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; and AOL MovieFone,
the nation's largest movie listing guide and ticketing service.
Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company
develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and
enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
For more information, please contact: The Dialog Corporation
Sara Parker sara_parker@dialog.com
Head of Corporate Communications +44 171 930 6900
Tracey Johnston tracey_johnston@dialog.com
Corporate PR Manager +44 171 930 6900
Kristian Talvitie kristian_talvitie@dialog.com
US Investor Relations +1 212 381 1824 Scott Yates scott_yates@dialog.com
US PR Manager +1 919 468 6914
Hogarth Partnership Ltd (for Dialog) +44 171 357 9477
John Olsen/James Longfield/Nick Lockwood jolsen@hogarthpr.co.uk
Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated (for Dialog) +1 212 835 8500
David C. Collins/Robert L. Rinderman dial@jcir.com
Brodeur Porter Novelli (for Dialog) +1 919 760 7233
Peter Larmey plarmey@brodeur.com Netscape Communications Corporation
Nathan Tyler tyler@netscape.com Netscape NetCenter +1 650 937 4927
Regards
Basildon Bond |
