Network Solutions and Go2Net Announce Advertising Agreement For Online Web Address Registration and Directory Services

Business Wire, August 17, 1999

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 17, 1999--

Network Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSOL), the leader in Web address registrations ending in .com, .net and .org, and Go2Net, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNET), a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites, today announced a strategic agreement to offer Network Solutions' Web address registration and directory services for members of Go2Net's HyperMart ( http://www.hypermart.net ) and Virtual Avenue ( http://www.virtualave.net ) business hosting services.

HyperMart and Virtual Avenue comprise the Internet's largest aggregation of small and medium-sized businesses, with more than 445,000 businesses, growing at the combined rate of more than 1,000 new member businesses per day.

Under the comprehensive advertising agreement, which includes revenue sharing elements, Go2Net will direct prospective HyperMart and Virtual Avenue member businesses to co-branded pages offering Network Solutions' Web address registration and directory services at a cost of $70 for two-year Web address registrations. This will include the opportunity to register for free listings in the new dot com directory(TM), a business directory designed to help users quickly locate, research and do business with companies on the Web. The directory, which has more than 1.8 million online business listings, also will be featured on the Go2Net Personal ( http://www.go2net.com ) and MetaCrawler ( http://www.metacrawler.com ) sites in the "resources" sections.

"Network Solutions is excited to work side-by-side with Go2Net to offer our Internet identity services to a growing number of small-to-medium sized businesses," said Doug Wolford, senior vice president, marketing and sales, Network Solutions. "Our collaboration levels the playing field for small businesses."

"As HyperMart and Virtual Avenue continue to extend their leadership in the small and medium-sized business hosting sector, we believe there will be considerable synergies with Network Solutions' business domain registration and directory services," said John Keister, Go2Net President. "We anticipate that a significant number of new HyperMart and Virtual Avenue member businesses will join this program every month."

In addition to registration and directory services, Go2Net member businesses will be able to access Network Solutions' idNames(TM) service, a solution for establishing an international Web presence in any of the 192 countries currently accepting Web address registrations, as well as conduct WhoIs search requests from the co-branded Web pages.

About Go2Net, Inc.

Go2Net is a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites focused on the following categories: personal finance, search and directory, commerce and business services, and games. The company also develops Web-related software. The Go2Net Network's properties include: Go2Net Personal ( http://www.go2net.com ), which provides users with a comprehensive Internet start page offering customizable news, discussion, and stock information, as well as direct access to Go2Net's own finance, search, free Web hosting, shopping and Java multiplayer game sites; Silicon Investor ( http://www.siliconinvestor.com ), the Web's premier financial discussion site, which also 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; Dogpile ( http://www.dogpile.com ), a metasearch service and provider of proprietary search technologies; 100hot ( http://www.100hot.com ), a leading directory of the Web's most popular sites; HyperMart ( http://www.hypermart.net ) and Virtual Avenue ( http://www.virtualave.net ), the Web's leading providers of free business hosting services; Authorize.Net ( http://www.authorize.net ), the Internet's leading payment authorization service; Haggle Online ( http://www.haggle.com ), a person-to-person auction service; WebMarket ( http://www.webmarket.com ), a one-stop comparison shopping service; and PlaySite ( http://www.playsite.com ), the Web's premier Java-based multi-player 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.

About Network Solutions

Founded in 1979, Network Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSOL) pioneered the development of registering Web addresses ending in .com, .net, .org and .edu. Network Solutions also provides Internet Technology Services that assist large commercial organizations in the evolution and management of their Internet technologies. For more information, see the http://www.networksolutions.com Web site.

Network Solutions is the world's leading registrar with more than 5 million net registrations. Network Solutions registers the majority of Web addresses worldwide through various channels including nearly 200 companies in its Premier Program. Network Solutions has created value-added small business solutions through agreements with leading companies such as American Express (NYSE: AXP). Through its Alliance Program, Network Solutions works closely with EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK), MindSpring Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPG), Interland, Inc., Interliant, Inc. (formerly Sage Networks, Inc.) (NASDAQ: INIT) and ValueWeb (NASDAQ: ESPI). Network Solutions also has entered into marketing agreements with companies including Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Netscape Communications Corporation.