Don't forget, GNET has a 3 year agreement with them as of Oct 1999:
KLP
go2net.com
Contact:
Karen Hynes
PR Manager, The HyperMart Network
Go2Net, Inc.
(206) 447-1595
karenh@go2net.com
Go2Net announces agreement with Net2Phone to distribute Internet Telephony Services
Go2Net to offer unified messaging and communications center
SEATTLE, October 29, 1999 - Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET), a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites (http://www.go2net.com/), today announced a three year agreement with Net2Phone, a leading provider of voice-enhanced Internet communications services, under which Go2Net will exclusively integrate Net2Phone's PC-to-phone technology and other communications services throughout the Go2Net Network.
Go2Net and Net2Phone will create a new unified messaging and communications center on the Go2Net Network, where users and online businesses will have the ability to send and receive voice mail, faxes, email, and telephone calls from a single, integrated Web-based environment. According to Media Metrix, the Go2Net Network reached approximately 10 million unique users in September. Through the communications center, Go2Net's users will be able to download Net2Phone's PC-to-phone software and place calls to any telephone in the world at low rates. Net2Phone's IP telephony services will also be integrated into Go2Net's HyperMart (http://www.hypermart.net/) and Virtual Avenue (http://www.virtualave.net/) business hosting services, to provide their online member businesses with access to the one-stop communications center.
The Go2Net Network's communications center will also integrate custom email and related products from CommTouch Software (Nasdaq: CTCH), a leading provider of outsourced email for corporations and consumers. For broadband and wireless environments, Net2Phone will have rights to distribute its services through Go2Net's portal services offered to third parties. When Go2Net provides start pages or customized portal offerings to third parties distributed through set-top devices, cellular phones and PDAs, Net2Phone has the exclusive option to incorporate its IP telephony services in those offerings where Go2Net has the right to include such services.
Net2Phone's e-commerce solution, Click2Talk, will be offered to the more than 560,000 small business members of HyperMart and Virtual Avenue, enabling users to click on a merchant's listing and be connected to a live sales representative using Internet telephony. Click2Talk offers Web users a live phone connection without the inconvenience of having to log off of the Internet, while offering businesses the opportunity to enhance client relations by adding the element of human voice to customer interaction.
Effective immediately, Net2Phone's PC-to-phone service will be prominently positioned throughout the Go2Net Network, allowing users to instantly place low-cost Net2Phone telephone calls directly from the Go2Net Network and many of its most popular sites, such as Silicon Investor, MetaCrawler, and HyperMart. Net2Phone's services will also be prominently featured in the HyperMart Small Business Center (http://www.hypermart.net/center/), a comprehensive, one-stop portal featuring the Web's leading business products, services and reference materials. Net2Phone's PC-to-phone services will be fully integrated throughout the Go2Net Network, allowing users to make one-click Internet phone calls worldwide. In order to place a call, a user must simply have a multimedia PC and Net2Phone software, available through a free download on the Net2Phone Web site (www.net2phone.com). This three-year agreement also provides for significant marketing and promotion of Net2Phone's services throughout the Go2Net Network, in which Net2Phone and Go2Net will share in the revenues derived from Net2Phone's services after Net2Phone has achieved certain minimum revenues, with a minimum marketing commitment of $5 million per year.
"Net2Phone has established itself as the Internet's leader in voice-enhanced communications products, and we're very pleased to be adding their services, as we develop a singular way to meet the communication and commerce needs of our users and HyperMart member businesses," said Russell C. Horowitz, Go2Net Chief Executive Officer. "As we bring additional related components, such as custom email and other products to the Go2Net Network, we believe that Net2Phone's offerings will be especially beneficial to our users."
Horowitz added: "We also welcome the potential opportunity of offering economical IP telephony services to the set-top box and broadband marketplaces."
About Go2Net, Inc. Go2Net (http://www.go2net.com/) is a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites focused on the categories of personal finance; search and directory; commerce and business services; and multi-player games. The Go2Net Network is home to many of the Internet's leading vertical brands, including: Silicon Investor in the personal finance category; Go2Net.com, MetaCrawler, Dogpile, and 100hot in the area of search and directory; HyperMart, Virtual Avenue, Authorize.Net, Haggle Online, and WebMarket in the commerce and business services segment; and PlaySite in the area of multi-player games. The company's Go2Net Labs division develops Web-related software and innovative technologies to enhance the features and functionality of the Go2Net Network's sites and for licensing to other Internet companies.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the company's ability to grow its user and advertiser base. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the company's limited operating history, the competitive environment in which the company competes, the early stage of the Web as an advertising and electronic commerce medium, the company's dependence on advertising and sponsorship revenues, the company's dependence on strategic relationships to drive traffic to its Web sites, consumer acceptance of the company's new products and services, the company's ability to develop and integrate new technologies and services into its existing services, and the increased use of the Web for commerce. More information about the potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended December 31, 1998, March 31, 1999, and June 30, 1999, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
