Hotbar.com, 'The Dashboard to the Internet', Proves the Power of Its Platform

Business Wire, July 13, 2000

Business & Internet Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2000

Company Gives Away Porsche Boxster Through Online Campaign - and

Generates Millions of email Entries in the Process

Today, Hotbar.com, Inc., the Internet company that provides its millions of users instant transportation to the Web's most useful and popular sites, along with the latest in leading-edge e-commerce deals and timesaving services in one convenient, non-obtrusive toolbar, officially awarded one lucky user a brand-new Porsche Boxster sports car.

The selection of a winner - Jennifer Brydon, of Gateshead, England - was the culmination of a 41-day sweepstakes that has ultimately proven the power of Hotbar.com to target and reach the most enthusiastic sector of Internet users.

Hotbar.com - the dashboard to the Internet - began accepting entries for the online sweepstakes on May 25, and closed the door to new contestants on July 4. Contest entrants qualified for the drawing by sending one of Hotbar.com's "skins" - graphical images that can be instantly applied to the browser's existing gray-top toolbar - along with information about the contest to friends, family and colleagues. The contest was promoted from the Hotbar.com toolbar via a button labeled, "Win a Porsche".

Over the 41 days the contest was open for entry, Hotbar.com generated a total of 2,275,806 such emails. What's more, each individual contestant forwarded an average of 5.29 emails to family and friends - impressive numbers that demonstrate the overall strength and viability of Hotbar.com's platform and user base.

"Hotbar.com's toolbar has already proven itself to be a remarkably successful device for simplifying Internet navigation," said Oren Dobronsky, Hotbar.com's co-founder and CEO. "This contest was truly a win-win: Our winner is obviously thrilled with her new car, and Hotbar.com was provided with a very quick and effective method to measure our product's strength and popularity. Hotbar.com's toolbar came through in spades. Not only does Hotbar.com's technology offer our end users a substantially improved Web surfing experience, but we provide our business partners immediate access to an enormous group of motivated consumers."

System Requirements

Hotbar.com is compatible with Internet Explorer and has recently announced a Netscape-compatible version as well. The 140K plug-in can be downloaded for free at www.hotbar.com.

About Hotbar.com, Inc.

Hotbar.com is the dashboard to the Internet, integrating communication, content, commerce, color and creativity all into one free toolbar. Hotbar.com, a privately held company with 40 employees based in Tel Aviv, Israel, was founded in 1999 by Chief Executive Officer Oren Dobronsky and President Gabriella Karni. Thousands of Hotbar.com Skin centers exist on the Web to date, featuring personal skins created by Hotbar.com.com users. The company is the 129th most popular Web site on the Internet for February 2000, as ranked by the Alexa 1000. For more information, please visit www.hotbar.com.com.