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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tonyt who wrote (57677)	5/21/1999 10:56:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Investment Highlights: * The most striking data point in the April web ratings was the sequential decline in estimated overall web users—from 61.6 million in March to 61.1 million in April. The numbers are extrapolated from a relatively small sample and one month does not make a trend, but this is only the second sequential decline in the last year (estimated users dropped from October to November, possibly the result of a change in methodology). If the decline were to be the start of a trend, it would obviously have significant implications for the industry and the stocks. Please see inside. * The reach of most of the major network dropped in April—likely the result of lighter overall web usage. AOL Sites (AOL; D-1-1-9), maintained the No. 1 position with 66% reach (down 3 points). Microsoft Sites remained No. 2 (53%, up 1). Yahoo! reclaimed No. 3 (51%, flat). A suddenly quiet Lycos dropped from No. 3 to No. 4 (47%, down 5 points). No. 5 Go Network dropped 4 points to 35%, No. 6 Geocities (32%, down 3 points) and No. 7 Excite (29%, down 2 points) maintained their positions. * Time and pageviews matter too — and relative to Microsoft and Yahoo! in these metrics, AOL's web properties are still weak (we should emphasize that the web ratings include only AOL's web-based properties; the AOL service and Compuserve are dominant in reach, time, and pageviews in the online service market). The average AOL user spent 24 minutes on the sites in the month (down 3) and generated 27 pageviews (down 1) —about a third as many pageviews as Yahoo! (64, down 1) and half as many minutes as the average Microsoft and Yahoo! user. * Yahoo (YHOO; D-2-1-9; $158 1/4) moved ahead of Lycos (LCOS; D-2-1-9; $117) in overall reach. In addition, Yahoo!'s minutes and pageviews-- important when it comes to monetizing traffic--are still much higher than Lycos's and among the highest in the industry: Yahoo! users spent an average of 65 minutes (down 3) on the sites in the month and looked at 64 pages per month (down 1), more than 3X as many minutes and pageviews as Lycos users. * Microsoft's overall reach increased a point to 53%. Microsoft's minutes and pageviews continued to be among the highest in the industry: 66 (down 5) and 43 (down 1). * The reach of the Go Network, the new Infoseek-Disney property, fell 4 points. Pageviews and minutes increased, however. * Amazon.com's (AMZN; D-2-1-9; $139 9/16) reach was flat at 17%, likely the result of a seasonally slow month. Bulletin United States Internet Software & Svcs 21 May 1999 Henry Blodget First Vice President Monthly Web Ratings Analyzing the April Data Reason for Report: April Web Ratings Merrill Lynch & Co. Global Securities Research & Economics Group Global Fundamental Equity Research Department RC#10214106 Industry