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INTERNET.COM FORMS JOINT VENTURE WITH VNU TO EXPAND EUROPEAN WEB SITE PRESENCE
(Darien, CT--November 22, 1999)-- internet.com Corporation (Nasdaq: INTM) today announced that it has signed an agreement with VNU International, a division of Netherlands-based publishing and information company VNU, to jointly operate local internet.com branded Web sites in the UK, Scandinavia, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy. In addition, the two companies said they will work together to launch additional internet.com country-specific Web sites in several more European countries in the near future. Both companies will leverage their respective on-line and off-line media properties to promote and drive traffic to these Web sites. The new Web sites are expected to launch in the first quarter of the year 2000. france.internet.com and germany.internet.com were previously launched by internet.com. All sites will be offered in their local languages.The alliance with VNU expands internet.com's presence in the rapidly-growing European business-to-business Internet market. According to a recent Morgan Stanley Dean Witter study, Internet penetration in Europe is poised to triple to 100 million users by 2003, up from 33.5 million users in 1998.
Joining with VNU will help internet.com expand more rapidly and ensure our first mover position in each of the countries we enter or have already entered", stated Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO of internet.com. VNU is a leading publisher of information technology magazines and Web sites throughout Europe and we will now have the ability to use these properties to promote all of our European sites. VNU is also a leading European on-line technology publisher with its VNUnet.com network of technology content Web sites and IT recruitment 'jobworld' sites, which are available in several languages. These VNU business technology sites, which have combined monthly page views of 15 million and monthly unique visitors of 750,000, will be linked with all internet.com European sites.
Ruud Bakker, Chairman and CEO of VNU Business Publishing Europe commented: "The joint venture with internet.com, the world's leading Web site on the business and technology of the Internet, will further strengthen VNU's position as the premier online information technology publisher in Europe.
VNU is one of the world's leading publishing and information companies and has leading market positions in magazines, directories, educational publishing and business information in Europe and the USA. Worldwide, VNU employs approximately 15,000 people and has annual revenues of more than US$ 2.8 billion. VNU publishes such leading print magazines as: Computing (UK), Informatique (France), Computer Reseller News (UK, France), ComputerActive (UK), Billboard (U.S.), Hollywood Reporter (U.S.), and Adweek (U.S.). VNU recently completed the acquisition of Nielsen Media Research (NYSE: NMR).
internet.com Corporation (http://www.internet.com), based in Darien, Connecticut, is a leading provider of global real-time news and information resources for the Internet industry and Internet technology professionals, web developers and experienced Internet users. internet.com operates a network of 78 Web sites, 70 e-mail newsletters, 101 online discussion forums and 73 moderated e-mail discussion lists with over 1.8 million unique visitors that generate more than 80 million page views monthly. Total "views", which include Web site page views, e-mail newsletter views and e-mail discussion list views, are now over 140 million per month. internet.com's global presence includes editions in Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Arabia, Australia, Asia, France, Germany, Japan, Israel and South Africa. In addition, internet.com, with its related internet.com Venture Fund I and Fund II, has become a significant investor in a growing number of business-to-business content sites and related Internet media properties.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding internet.com Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Prospectus dated June 25, 1999, Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, when available.
For more information contact:
Steve Rubel
Schwartz Public Relations
(212) 677-8700 x23
steve.rubel@schwartzpr.com
Nicole Catalano
internet.com Corporation
203-662-2870
ncatalano@internet.com
VNU
Press Contacts:
Maarten Schikker
Tel: +31 23 5 463 600
Investor Relations:
Rob de Meel
Tel: +31 23 5 463 668
All current internet.com Corp. press releases can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.internet.com/corporate/press.html.
