Terra Lycos Unveils All New Magazine-Format Network Design, Introduces New Destinations

Business Wire, Nov 5, 2001

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001

New Sites Provide Image-Rich Content for Specific Audiences;

New Search Delivers Freshest Results

Terra Lycos (NASDAQ: TRLY)(Madrid Exchange: TRR), the largest global Internet network, today announced the launch of its new network, featuring a uniform, simple navigation with less clutter, offering one of the richest user experiences available anywhere on the Web. The new unified look and feel transforms Terra Lycos sites in the U.S. from an "index" or "table of contents" format to a more media-centric magazine cover format.

Users will participate in a new media experience across the network with image-rich pages, less clutter and content presented above the fold. The new network features uniform navigational tools presented on the left side and across the top of the page, making it much easier for users to move rapidly throughout each site and the Terra Lycos Network. The new design also eliminates clutter by reducing the number of ads appearing on each page.

The new structure gives the various content areas within the Terra Lycos Network - Lycos Entertainment, Sports, Music, Travel, News and brands like Gamesville, Matchmaker, Raging Bull, Quote.com and more--a common navigation structure, giving users a sense of familiarity as they easily navigate through the network. Tighter network integration adds to a more complete user experience, while reinforcing the look and feel of the individual brands. Users visiting Lycos Music (http://music.lycos.com) for example, now have easy-to-navigate links to relevant content in Lycos Entertainment, increasing their comfort level, creating a stronger emotional connection to the site and network.

"We did rigorous testing of the new architecture with our users and results showed 74 percent of those tested preferred the new homepage over the old version, which indicates a remarkably high user acceptance," said Mark Stoever, vice president of media for Terra Lycos U.S. "At the end of the day, our more than 103 million users are our top priority. Whether users come to Terra Lycos to search, shop, get news, chat, build Web sites, listen to music or watch movie trailers, we feel we've given them the most efficient, easiest to navigate, most robust Internet network available anywhere on the Web."

Lycos Search

The new Lycos Search site (http://search.lycos.com) is simpler and easier to use, delivering the freshest results available on the Web. The new index refresh rate is conservatively two and one half times more frequent than any other full Internet index. The less cluttered layout reduces the search area from five sections to two and Web Results are now presented above the fold. E-commerce searches take users directly to a section marked "Sponsored Listings."

New Sites

-- Angelfire

Terra Lycos is a leading provider of content for young adults. The new, redesigned Angelfire (http://angelfire.lycos.com) is entertainment-focused with strong network integration promoting content from TV, Entertainment, Celebrities, Movies and Games, geared to the largest Angelfire audience, users under age 20. New site features include "Zones" inspired by teens' favorite homepage topics, like movies, music, comics, celebrities and anime. When Angelfire users are "in the zone," they'll have access to the latest news, video clips, MP3s, links to clubs and chats, polls and much more. Angelfire users also have direct links to other Terra Lycos Network products and services including e-mail, instant messaging, Teen Matchmaker, chat, message boards and clubs and content areas like Lycos Entertainment and Lycos Music. New site features also include daily interactive polls and surveys giving Angelfire users even more ways to tell the world what they are thinking.

-- Family Zone

Family Zone (http://familyzone.lycos.com) provides a wealth of information and fun activities for active, connected families. Building off Terra Lycos's longstanding commitment to offering trusted, family-friendly content, Family Zone was created to meet the needs of soccer moms, the mini-van audience, older parents and couples without children. Featured content zones include Entertaining, Pregnancy and Babies, Educational Games, Teachers Zone, Nutrition, House Works, Kids' Health, Healthy Women, Body Works and People and Places. Pets and Gardening content areas will be added in the coming weeks. Families have access to entertainment, health and parenting news headlines around the clock, book recommendations and shopping ideas for children and links to Child Recall to quickly identify recalled children's products.

Instant messaging and calendar reminder tools are also available to families to help them communicate and organize their lives more efficiently. Family Zone provides links to the newly enhanced Lycos Zone, (http://www.lycoszone.com), the smart engaging site for children ages three to 12, now featuring robust graphics, colorful animated characters, easier navigation and more educational and fun games complementing Lycos Zone's already rich content areas. Additionally, families have easy access to Lycos Zone's information on how to keep kids safe on the Web and links to SearchGuard, Terra Lycos's proprietary free safe filtering software. Family Zone contains hand-selected content from premier providers including Family First, Child Recall, InfoPlease Almanac, HowStuffWorks, Recipe Center, WebMD and more.