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To: Rande Is who wrote (1624)1/4/1999 2:16:00 PM
From: Bucky Katt  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 57584
 
Read this, about the S/I parent>>GO2NET ACQUIRES WEB21

Adding Profitable Web Ranking Company To The Go2Net Network;
100hot.com Web Index Bolsters Go2Net Portal

01/04/99 -- SEATTLE, WA -- Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET)
(http://www.go2net.com), a network of technology- and community-driven Web
sites, announced that it has acquired Web21 (http://www.100hot.com), the first
online service to establish a category-by-category ranking of Internet sites.
Founded in May 1995, Web21 adds a profitable business to the Go2Net
Network with its 100hot.com index, which identifies and ranks the top 100 Web
sites in such categories as technology, entertainment, business, shopping,
lifestyle, games, sports and news. The acquisition was made for approximately
$13.5 million in stock.

"Web21 is a solid fit for Go2Net, bringing a valuable index and more than one
million unique visitors per month to the Go2Net Network, along with positive
revenue streams from a loyal base of advertisers and business partners," said
Russell C. Horowitz, Go2Net chief executive officer. "Go2Net will work to
maintain 100hot.com's position as the destination of choice for Web users
interested in where their peers on the Internet are going."

Web21 compiles its listings based on the analysis of log files from cache
servers located at strategic points throughout the Internet. The 100hot.com
rankings enable Web users to find the most popular sites on the Internet as a
whole, or within each of the 100hot.com categories.

"Go2Net Network users, advertisers and partners will benefit from the addition
of Web21, while 100hot.com users will notice the increased attention Go2Net
plans to direct toward the index," Horowitz added. "In the months ahead, we will
enhance 100hot.com and develop ways to offer strong value and
cross-promotion opportunities for current Web21 and Go2Net advertising
clients and business partners. This will also extend across the individual sites
that comprise the Go2Net Network."

"We believe tremendous synergies exist between 100hot.com and the Go2Net
Network," said Bert Fornaciari, Web21 founder and president. "Go2Net has
established itself as home to many of the Internet's premier brands and we're
pleased to be joining the Go2Net Network."

Terms of Acquisition:

The acquisition is valued at approximately $13.5 million in Go2Net stock and is
being accounted for as a pooling of interests. The transaction closed on
December 31, 1998. Under terms of the acquisition, Go2Net will issue
approximately 385,000 of its common shares in exchange for all outstanding
securities of Web21, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Go2Net.
Web21 will remain based in Palo Alto, CA and company founder Bert
Fornaciari will continue to serve as president of Web21.

About Web21

Web21 is the first company to use Internet activity data gathered from multiple
sources to rank the world's most popular World Wide Web sites. The company
also provides 100hot InSite research services (for corporations and
organizations interested in tracking the popularity of their own Web sites or
those of their competitors), 100hot search and the newly introduced 100hot
surfboard and advertising service, which automatically adds bookmarks to
users' browsers.

About Go2Net, Inc.

Go2Net (http://www.go2net.com) is a network of branded, technology- and
community-driven Web sites focused on the following categories: personal
finance, search, commerce, and games. The company also develops
Web-related software. The Go2Net Network's properties include: Silicon
Investor (http://www.siliconinvestor.com), the Web's premier financial discussion
site; StockSite (http://www.stocksite.com), which offers proprietary articles,
portfolio tracking tools, company research and news relating to business and
finance; MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), a metasearch service that
combines various existing search/index guides into one service; HyperMart
(http://www.hypermart.net), the Web's leading provider of free business hosting
services; WebMarket (http://www.webmarket.com), a one-stop comparison
shopping service; and PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com), a Java-based multi-
player online games site. The company's Go2Net Labs division develops
innovative technologies to enhance the features and functionality of the Go2Net
sites and for licensing to other Internet companies.

GNET is building real value here. Very smart people...