COMPANY OVERVIEW
Go2Net, Inc. (the "Company") offers through the World Wide Web a
network of branded, technology and community-driven Web sites. Go2Net's
properties available through the Go2Net Network (www.go2net.com) include:
MetaCrawler (www.metacrawler.com), a metasearch service that combines various
existing search/index guides into one service; PlaySite (www.playsite.com), a
Java-based multiplayer games site; StockSite (www.stocksite.com), a business and
finance site which offers proprietary articles, portfolio tracking tools,
company research and news relating to business and finance; Silicon Investor
(www.siliconinvestor.com), the Web's premier financial discussion community;
HyperMart (www.hypermart.net), the Web's leading provider of free business
hosting services; and WebMarket (www.webmarket.com), a one-stop comparison
shopping service. The Go2Net's Labs division develops innovative technologies to
enhance the features and functionality of the Go2Net sites and for licensing to
other Internet companies. The Company focuses on utilizing innovative
technologies to deliver its content and to enhance the attractiveness and
utility of its product offerings.
Since the commercial launch of the Company's first Web site in
November 1996, traffic on the Go2Net Network has increased significantly to
approximately 6.7 million average page views per day and over one million unique
users per day during the month of September 1998.
The Company believes that the traffic and user demographics on its
Web sites provide an attractive platform for measurable, targeted,
cost-effective and interactive advertising on the Internet. As of December 15,
1998, the Company had relationships with over 225 advertisers, including IBM,
Hewlett-Packard, Micron Technology, Amazon.com, Datek and Cyberian Outpost.
Through the Marketplace, the Company has also entered into electronic commerce
and sponsorship arrangements with several companies, including Cyberian Outpost,
Bid.com, NECX, CarSmart, Priceline and Phillips' 1-800-Florals. Since the
Company's inception, the majority of the Company's revenue have been derived
from advertising sales. In order to leverage its marketing resources and to
facilitate the distribution of certain of the Company's services, the Company
has entered into strategic co-branding relationships with several companies,
including Earthlink, Lycos, Mindspring and USA Today.
As part of its strategy to enhance its product offerings, the Company
has completed acquisitions or licenses of businesses and technologies that are
complementary or related to the Company's business. Since its inception in 1996,
the Company has enhanced its product offerings through the following
acquisitions or exclusive licenses:
On January 31, 1997, the Company sublicensed from Netbot, Inc.
("Netbot") on an exclusive basis (with certain limited exceptions) MetaCrawler,
a metasearch engine developed by the University of Washington and Netbot, and
associated intellectual property rights (the "MetaCrawler Service"). Netbot was
acquired by Excite, Inc. in November 1997. The MetaCrawler Service is a free
World Wide Web search service that sends search queries to several Web search
engines. The Company integrated the MetaCrawler Service into the Company's
product offerings in March 1997.
On July 22, 1997, the Company announced that it had formed a
multi-user gaming network through its July 15, 1997 acquisition of PlaySite, a
Java-based multi-user games site, and certain gaming infrastructure technology
from Internet Games Corporation. PlaySite is based on a proprietary, 100% Java,
multi-user communication system and game-building toolkit. Through PlaySite, the
Company is focused on developing latency-tolerant multi-user board, card,
trivia, party, adventure and simulation games, as well as chat, messaging and
bulletin boards.
On June 23, 1998, the Company announced the acquisition of Silicon
Investor. Silicon Investor ("SI") operates a site on the Web focused on personal
finance. SI's primary focus is its discussion community, which has over
6,000,000 messages currently in its database. SI was incorporated in April 1995
and has since attracted over 75,000 subscribers who participate in SI's
financial discussion and other features.
On August 3, 1998, the Company acquired HyperMart, Inc., a provider
of free Web hosting for businesses. Hypermart currently hosts over 115,000
member businesses, and is adding new member businesses at the rate of over
15,000 per month. HyperMart offers free registration and hosting of virtual
domains, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) access, unlimited Web site traffic
capacity and an SSL secure
3
server option. In exchange for receiving free hosting by HyperMart, member
businesses agree to allow Go2Net to sell advertising on the |
