Internet Access: Lycos Network Audience Reach Soars to 44.5% With 27.8 Million Unique Visitors - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 23, 1998

Lycos, Inc.'s network of premier Web properties posted 44.5% audience reach and 27.8 million unique visitors, according to the latest Media Metrix reports released yesterday. The audience reach of the Lycos Network, the second most visited hub on the Internet, has been on an unparalleled climb from a 14% audience reach in February and is now within 3.1% reach points of the company's goal to be the number one destination on the Web.

The Lycos Network, composed of leading Web sites Lycos.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com, MailCity.com, WhoWhere.com, HotBot.com and other Wired Digital properties, is a pioneering Web strategy based on a model proven in traditional media that delivers diversity of programming with mass audience reach in a coordinated environment.

During the last five months, Lycos' expanding share has been fueled by the growth of individual brands in the Lycos Network. In the search/portal category, Lycos.com, recently redesigned based on extensive user testing, continued its fifth straight month of steady growth to 22.6% audience reach. These Media Metrix numbers include only one week of the new Lycos national advertising campaign, which Lycos believes is a heavy contributor to a 41% increase in traffic to the Lycos.com home page over the last month. HotBot.com exploded from a 5.9% reach to 9.0% reach benefiting from an aggressive advertising campaign and traffic circulation in the Lycos Network. Lycos continues its leadership in community. Long the fastest growing of the top sites on the Web, Tripod.com is now at 16.1% audience reach and Angelfire.com is now at 15.2% reach.

"The consumer appeal of the Lycos Web properties shows us that our multiple brand strategy is working," said Bob Davis, president and CEO of Lycos, Inc. "Lycos has kept its focus on creating properties that have meaning to consumers, while providing integration within our network that provides real value to the Web user by delivering the information and enjoyment that they seek in their Web experiences. >From the business perspective, we continue to reap efficiencies and provide unparalleled opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audience."

Audience Reach

Properties      October     April   Growth Over Past 6 Months

Lycos Network      44.5      36.5          21.9%

Yahoo Sites        47.6      50.9         -6.5%

Excite Network     30.1      33.0         -8.8%

Founded in 1995 Lycos, Inc., the second most visited Internet Hub, and Fast Search & Transfer ASA (FAST), owner of the world's largest File Transfer Protocol search site, announced an agreement to create and market a co-branded site (http://www.fastftpftpsearch.lycos.comwww.ftpsearch.ntnu.no) featuring FAST's search technology and extensive database of more than 100 million FTP files and their associated search and compression technologies. The co-branded FAST/Lycos search site will be accessible throughout the Lycos Network. (including Lycos.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com, and WhoWhere.com and Tripod.com).

Under the terms of the agreement, Under the terms of the agreement, Lycos and FAST will work together to identify areas of the Lycos site and Lycos products where Fast Image Transfer compression technology can be utilized. Fast Image Transfer compresses files two to six times more than JPEG for the same visual quality, resulting in smaller file size and faster download times for images and web pages. to provide users with faster download times for their images and pages. Additionally, the alliance calls for continued efforts by both FAST and Lycos to work together in to enhance improving both the search and compression technologies, develop new multimedia products, and to make the technologies available to the widest audience of Internet users. and make them widely available to the widest number of users. The companies are looking into supporting multi-media applications through these advanced technologies.

The companies are looking into supporting multi-media applications through these advanced technologies.

"Recent industry trends show that vast numbers of more users are downloading large images and multi-media files. As technology improves and users get more sophisticated, the demand for quicker downloading of these files will only increase," said Jan Horsfall, vice president of marketing for Lycos. "FAST technology makes it easy to search the world's biggest file download database while Fast FAST Image Transfer makes pictures and pages download more quicker.." Group product manager of search, navigation and multi-media for Lycos, Rajive Mathur said, "We view this co-branded venture as one which highlights the incredible reach of the Lycos Network while delivering advanced technology that makes FTP searching a breeze.."

"We chose Lycos because of the vast reach of the Lycos Network along with and the compatibility of the its search and homepage properties on the Lycos Network with FAST FTP search,." said Espen Brodin, president & and CEO of Fast Search and Transfer, ASA. "The Lycos Network has more than 40% reach in the U.S. and a strong presence in Europe and Japan. These characteristics make the Lycos Network the best choice for exposing large numbers of users to our industry leading FAST's advanced technologies."

"Lycos is very excited about using to be evaluating FAST's Java- based compression technology for use with our industry leading Image Gallery service," said Brian Kalinowski, multi-media product manager for Lycos. "Our goal has been to consistently improve the user experience through the integration of content and technology. FAST's compression technology offers a natural synergy with our service.." About Lycos, Inc.