Tripod, a Lycos Company, Hosts Parable's ThingSearch, Provides Tripod.com's 2 Million Members With Searchable, Sharable Multimedia Content for Personal Homepages

Business Wire, August 31, 1998

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 1998--Tripod's 2 million members will now have comprehensive access to the Web's most dynamic multimedia content. Parable, an Internet multimedia company, today announced an agreement for Tripod to host a co-branded ThingSearch(TM) on its popular community Web site. ThingSearch is a service that allows for the hosting of Parable's searchable ThingWorld(TM) database of rich interactive multimedia "Things," at other Web sites, communities and portals. With ThingSearch, Tripod page builders can now search for, use and pass along branded and general multimedia Things for their personal Web pages.

Tripod and Parable will share ad revenue from banner ads targeted to individual content areas of the ThingSearch database. In addition, Tripod will sell Parable's easy-to-use authoring tool, ThingMaker(TM), to its personal publishing community.

By offering ThingSearch, highly-trafficked sites such as Tripod can expand their services by providing their homepage builders with easy-to-use multimedia content from ThingWorld(TM) (www.thingworld.com), Parable's multimedia showcase and distribned and protected on the Internet, as well as tools for creating Things and using them on the desktop and otripod's ThingSearch database. Things found in the database include interactive Digital Collectibles(TM), exp Things can be taken from the database and repulong, Things are an exciting and easy page-enricll expand accordingly.

"Our members are always seeking new content for their personal Web pages. By proionality, ThingSearch requires virtually no devnded ThingSearch is accessible through keyword ns adopt Things to extend brand and engage fans online, ThingWorld becomes a preferred way to proliferate multimedia content and brand messaging on the Web," said Robert Brooker, Director of ThingWorld Business Development at Parable.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THINGS

Things are viewed using ThingViewer(TM). Things and ThingViewer are available for Window 95 and NT and leading Web browsers. Things are optimized for Pentium-based PCs and are compatible with Microsoft's Active Desktop and Channel Definition Format (CDF). ThingCollector(TM) and ThingScreenSaver(TM) can be downloaded at www.thingworld.com.

About Tripod

Founded in 1992, Tripod (www.tripod.com) is the fast-growing Web community designed for individuals who embrace the innovative and pioneering spirit of the Web. Tripod provides the Web's best homepage publishing tools, as well as community and content centered around 14 Zones: Entertainment, Computers/Internet, Jobs/Career, Home/Family, Women, Society/Culture, Health/Fitness, Fun&Games, Money/Business, Shopping, Teens, Cars&Trucks, Travel, and Sports. Headquartered in Williamstown, MA, Tripod is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCOS). Located at http://www.lycos.com, Lycos is the second largest hub on the Internet, combining all aspects of community, leading Web navigation resources and cutting-edge business and consumer e-commerce solutions.

About Parable

Founded in August 1996, Parable (http://www.thingworld.com), an Internet multimedia company, provides technology and tools that deliver the power of Internet multimedia to everyone. Parable's unique technology allows consumers to experience, share and collect multimedia without programming or coding. Headquartered in Newton, MA, Parable is part of the CMG@Venture portfolio of companies, which also includes blaxxun, GeoCities, Hollywood Entertainment, KOZ, Lycos, Planet Direct, Silknet, Softway Systems, Universal Learning Technologies, Vicinity and other innovative enterprises.

ThingCollector, ThingMaker, ThingScreenSaver, ThingViewer, ThingWorld and Digital Collectibles are all registered trademarks of Parable. All other properties referenced herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

    CONTACT: Parable
              Kristen Gariepy, 617/796-0860
              kgariepy@parablecorp.com
                or
              Tripod
              Kara Berklich, 413/458-2265 x21
              kara@tripod.com