Google Builds World's Largest Advertising and Search Monetization Program; Company Introduces Automated Content-Targeted Ads; Advertising Customer Base Surpasses 100,000

Business Wire, March 4, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2003

Google today announced its online advertising program -- comprising more than 100,000 advertisers worldwide -- is the largest and fastest growing in the industry. The company today also announced a new content-targeted advertising service that extends advertiser reach and makes web pages more useful by replacing untargeted ads with relevant sponsored links. This results in an improved user experience and increased revenue for website publishers.

"Google remains committed to developing services that bring significant value and return on investment to our advertisers, partners, and users worldwide," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO. "Through superior relevancy and simple design, Google's many innovations connect people to the world's information and enhance the overall user experience of the web."

Google's approach to advertising stays true to the company's philosophy that relevance matters most to users. Unlike other paid listing services, Google's innovative advertising technology gauges user response in the form of click-through rates to determine the order in which ads are shown. Users see the most relevant advertising first and advertisers are rewarded with average click-through rates at least five times higher than the industry average for traditional banner ads. Now serving more than 200 million searches per day on its global network of websites and partner sites, Google's large advertiser base enables the company to serve targeted ads for a diverse range of queries without distracting users with unrelated ads.

Google also leverages the same discipline and technical expertise used to create its award-winning search engine to build innovative new services, such as content-targeted advertising. This service expands the reach for Google advertisers by serving ads on a variety of content pages across the web.

Content targeting technology applies the precision of search advertising to the rest of the web -- Google identifies the meaning of a web page and then automatically serves relevant ads. This service extends advertiser reach, provides users with highly relevant ads, and enables website publishers to monetize content pages -- even remnant or run-of-site inventory. Charter participants include Knight Ridder Digital properties (San Jose Mercury News, Detroit Free Press, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer) and HowStuffWorks. Content-targeted ads also appear on Google Groups (groups.google.com), Google's search site for online newsgroups.

From small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations, companies of all sizes leverage Google's advertising programs to deliver a significant and measurable return on investment. Some of Google's more than 100,000 advertisers include Dow, CareerBuilder, Expedia, Sears Canada, Renault, Lloyds TSB Insurance, as well as small- and medium-sized businesses such as Hospitalgowns.com and AmericanMeadows.com.

Google's advertisers also benefit from additional reach through Google's global network of search partners. Launched one year ago, Google's partner network provides advertisers with exposure across many of the largest websites in the world. Current partners include AOL, Ask Jeeves, Netscape, Earthlink, Compuserve, AT&T, BizRate, DealTime, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo! JAPAN, Libero, NEC Biglobe, NIFTY and BT Openworld.

"Google provides us with high-quality, relevant advertisements that deliver excellent click-through rates," said Steve Berkowitz, president of Ask Jeeves Web Properties, Ask Jeeves, Inc. "The Google team truly understands our business and is focused on optimizing and enhancing our ability to generate greater revenue through our partnership."

For more information on Google's advertising programs and content-targeted ads, visit www.google.com/ads and www.google.com/services/ct.html.> About Google

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Note to Editors: Google is a trademark of Google Technology Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.