Thursday April 23, 8:58 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

SOURCE: go2net, Inc.

go2net to Acquire Silicon Investor for $33 Million in Stock

Combination Will Create the Premier Destination On the Web for Investors

SEATTLE, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- go2net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET - news), a leader in providing technology-driven Web
sites (http://www.go2net.com), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Silicon Investor, one of the largest
communities on the Internet (http://www.techstocks.com). This acquisition will increase advertising, subscription
and commerce opportunities for go2net, as well as nearly triple the company's current total page views per month and
significantly increase its overall reach. 

More than 100,000 individual investors visit Silicon Investor each day to discuss and research investments, resulting
in over 100 million page views per month. This makes it one of the most highly trafficked sites in the personal
finance category, which has been identified by analysts as one of the most financially lucrative on the entire Web. 

The combination of Silicon Investor and go2net's existing StockSite (http://www.stocksite.com) will create one of
the premier destinations on the Web for the individual investor, with over 150,000 unique users per day and a
community of over 1 million. It will also create an unparalleled ''one-stop shop'' destination for investors, and will
offer financial discussion, proprietary company and market analysis, company research offerings, portfolio services,
and comprehensive charting capabilities. Further, it will greatly benefit the site's advertisers and commerce
partners. 

''Silicon Investor is the perfect match for us because of our shared business philosophy of technology-driven Web
sites, which allows for low-cost content creation'' said Russell C. Horowitz, CEO of go2net. ''Our acquisition of
Silicon Investor presents tremendous opportunities for operational synergies.'' 

Silicon Investor co-founder Jeff Dryer stated, ''We started Silicon Investor with a dream and that dream is now
bigger than ever. go2net has the infrastructure in place and the vision to take Silicon Investor to the next level.'' 

Added co-founder Brad Dryer, ''We are looking forward to moving operations to Seattle. go2net has a young,
fast-moving team that works well together and sees the infinite potential of the financial space.'' 

The acquisition will allow go2net to create one of the largest online communities in a highly desirable demographic
category and provide advertisers with a greater inventory of targeted advertising opportunities. Based on recent
usage numbers, go2net and Silicon Investor together have approximately 500,000 unique visitors per day, as well as 5
million unique users and 180 million page views per month, placing go2net in the top tier of the online industry. 

Acquiring Silicon Investor represents a significant step in go2net's acquisition strategy, which is aimed toward
creating a network of premier niche Web sites. This transaction will position go2net to pursue four distinct revenue
streams: Advertising, Subscription Services, Technology Licensing and Commerce. In addition to advertising revenues,
Silicon Investor derives a substantial portion of its revenues from subscription fees. 

Under the terms of the acquisition, go2net will issue approximately 1.25 million of its common shares in exchange for
all outstanding securities of Silicon Investor, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of go2net. The
acquisition is subject to the approval of go2net's shareholders and other customary closing conditions. 

In operation since 1995, Silicon Investor is the largest discussion community on the Web and holds the number one
market position for financial discussion both in terms of quantity and quality of messages. Over 70,000 messages are
posted per week and more than 4 million messages have been posted to date, a number that represents more than 70%
of all financial discussion on the Internet over the last three years. It is one of the top 10 trafficked Web sites in the
personal finance category and is one of the top 100 Web sites overall according to PC Magazine Online. In addition,
Brad and Jeff Dryer, co- founders of Silicon Investor, have been recognized by Institutional Investor magazine as
being among 20 pioneers who are revolutionizing finance on the Web. 

go2net's Russell C. Horowitz added, ''As significant as the acquisition of Silicon Investor is in executing our plan of
creating a network of premier niche Web sites, we are equally excited to have Brad and Jeff Dryer join the go2net
team. We will be looking for Brad and Jeff to continue providing the vision behind the site and will provide the
necessary resources for them to enhance the site and build the community. They have been successful in creating
value-added services that substantiate users paying subscription fees, which is a highly desirable business model --
they have created a site and technology that are truly one of a kind.'' 

The acquisition of Silicon Investor will also give go2net access to its highly scalable message board technology,
which go2net anticipates it will deploy on its other sites. 

About Silicon Investor: 

Silicon Investor (http://www.techstocks.com) is one the most successful communities on the Web. Its proprietary
technology permits rapid development of dynamic Web sites, and includes one of the most scalable platforms
available for threaded discussion. 

About go2net: 

go2net, Inc. (http://www.go2net.com) is a leader in providing technology- driven, premier niche Web sites, and
develops unique Java technologies. go2net's properties include: MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), a
search/index guide that combines various existing search/index guides into one service (a ''metasearch engine'');
PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com), a Java- based multiplayer online games network; and StockSite
(http://www.stocksite.com), which offers proprietary articles, portfolio tracking tools, company research and news
relating to business and finance. The Company focuses on creating and integrating innovative technologies to deliver
its content and enhance the attractiveness, utility and usability of its product offerings. 

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 extremely limited operating history, the competitive
environment in which the Company competes, the early stage of the Web as an advertising medium, the Company's
dependence on advertising revenues and the Company's dependence on strategic relationships to drive traffic to its
Web sites. 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, 1997, and quarterly report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 1997, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. 

SOURCE: go2net, Inc.