PlanetOut Tops One Million Unique Site Visitors; Leading Internet Media Company Cites AOL Partnership, New Design And Strong Advertising Support As Key To Growth

Business Wire, Feb 1, 2000

Business Editors &High-Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2000

PlanetOut, the leading Internet media company for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, has officially totaled more than one million unique visitors, according to a December, 1999, custom report developed by Media Metrix.

The customized Media Metrix report, which shows a 1.5 percent reach for PlanetOut, combines unique visitors to PlanetOut.com with unique visitors to the PlanetOut area within the America Online proprietary network.

According to PlanetOut, of visitors to their site, over 425,000 are registered PlanetOut members.

&uot;We've suspected for quite awhile that we surpassed the million mark in terms of unique site visitors, as we are currently growing at approximately 10,000 new member registrations a week,&uot; said Megan Smith, CEO of PlanetOut. &uot;We are especially proud that 40 percent of our visitors are registered members who see PlanetOut as their online home.&uot;

Mark Crumpacker, President and COO of PlanetOut, cites a variety of factors attributing to PlanetOut's remarkable growth. &uot;In the past six months, we have redesigned our site to reflect a new, faster, easier-to-use PlanetOut, with additional services and content channels and an expanded and more vibrant community. Our premiere partnership with AOL, which extends our reach across all AOL brands, including ICQ, CompuServe and Netscape, and our partnerships with Yahoo!, Lycos and other portal partners, have helped us build a solid base of loyal PlanetOut members who derive incredible value from our content, community and services. This new growth has also spurred a range of new agreements with key advertisers such as Johnson &Johnson, Fox Searchlight and Virgin Atlantic Airways, among others, who recognize PlanetOut's leadership within the gay and lesbian community.&uot;

About PlanetOut

PlanetOut is the leading Internet media company offering a vibrant, welcoming, and safe community for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their family and friends. A trusted consumer brand since 1995, PlanetOut offers comprehensive, original and relevant content including: news, entertainment, travel, money and careers, Internet radio, online cinema, shopping, directories, free e-mail, personals, community centers, message boards, chat and advice columns by well-known experts such as Betty DeGeneres. PlanetOut enriches the lives of gay and lesbian people both online and offline and has more than 425,000 registered members.

PlanetOut has key distribution partnerships with AOL, Netscape, ICQ, Yahoo!, NBCi's Snap.com, Lycos, RealNetworks, Compuserve and other major Web companies. PlanetOut is a San Francisco-based company and major investors include Silicon Valley's Mayfield Fund, America Online, UK-based Eden Capital and prominent angel investors. Experience PlanetOut at www.planetout.com or AOL Keyword: PlanetOut.

PlanetOut and PNO are registered trademarks of PlanetOut Corporation. All other trademarks belong to their holders.