1stUp.com Sets New Standard in Online Advertising Through Highly Effective Advertising Technology; New Smart Pop-Up Ads and Web Commercials Generate Unprecedented CTRs.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 2000

In a time when Web and `click and mortar' companies continue to grapple with maximizing the effectiveness of their online advertising programs, one company, 1stUp.com Corporation, a leading provider of private label Internet access solutions, and a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., has introduced a sophisticated suite of advertising technology products that is rapidly changing the face of online advertising.

Smart Pop-Ups are the newest addition to 1stUp.com's highly targeted, innovative ad-serving technology, which enables advertisers to deliver their campaigns to the right consumers at the right time. Through relationships with more than 130 leading brands including Excite@Home, AltaVista, Lycos, Ameritrade and others, 1stUp.com provides ad-supported Internet access to more than 5.5 million subscribers and offers advertisers the ability to reach these registered users at every point of their online experience.

Smart Pop-Ups - Attention-Grabbing and Intelligent

Attention-grabbing pop-up ad windows allow advertisers to jump in front of the competition. Reaching target audiences at a critical point, Smart Pop-Ups are delivered when users visit advertisers' competitive sites or any category of sites that the advertiser designates. Advertisers can now be in front of consumers while they are actively looking for products or services.

Web Commercials - TV Quality Ads Online; Higher Click-Throughs

Combining the dynamic nature of television with the interactive power of rich media, 1stUp.com enables advertisers to deliver targeted Web Commercials(TM). The 1stUp.com Web Commercial is a television-quality, rich media commercial or Flash advertisement that combines both audio and video and is shown while the user waits for the computer to dial-up and access the Internet. 1stUp.com addresses roadblocks to the proliferation of rich media on the Internet by (1) using advertisers' existing TV or Flash creative and (2) caching the commercial on the user's computer during the user's previous Internet session, thus ensuring that the commercial will be played in the highest quality available to non-broadband users.

"Through this relatively new technology, 1stUp.com's Web Commercials have received considerable attention from major online and offline advertisers," said Ann Crady, vice president of strategic development for 1stUp.com. "Corporations, including Ameritrade and Cisco, currently are running their existing TV commercials on the 1stUp.com network, without having to alter their television-ready creative material. The innovative Web Commercial technology combines the interactivity and targetability of the Internet with the engaging creative of television to allow our advertisers to reach a well-defined audience with a powerfully compelling advertisement."

The 1stStrike Is The Deepest!

1stUp.com's 1stStrike(TM) allows advertisers to challenge competitors head on. 1stUp.com's technology serves advertisers' banner ads when 1stUp.com users visit competitive Web sites or any site that pertains to the advertisers' targeted audience.

For example, a recent 1stStrike campaign enabled a leading online bookseller to target its major competitors and related Web sites. Whenever 1stUp.com end-users surfed to the targeted sites, they were presented with a banner ad for the online bookseller. This campaign achieved a click-through rate of more than four times the industry average, enabling the online bookseller to redirect consumers toward itself and away from its competitors.

Keyword Ads

Through 1stUp.com's advertising technology, targeted messages are delivered against search keywords on any of the top 30 search and e-commerce Web sites, and serve as a very effective advertising mechanism. In a recent campaign for a leading online bookseller, 1stUp.com targeted banner ads to appear against the keywords "Harry Potter," achieving a CTR of more than 5.0 percent.

Category Ads

Additionally, banner advertisements can be targeted against any of the 60+ categories of Web sites. For example, 1stUp.com ran a banner campaign for an online sports store targeted to appear when users surfed Sports-related Web sites, which achieved a CTR of approximately twice the industry average.

1stUp.com's technology can also improve advertiser's CTRs by targeting messages to a particular demographic or audience in any geographic location, based on the local phone number that users dial into, rather than IP addresses.

Navigational Buttons

1stUp.com's always-present navigation bar, viewed constantly by over 5.5 million registered users, is an effective vehicle for advertisers to place logos on, in their effort to increase brand visibility. Additionally, when a user mouses over the advertiser's button, a compelling, branded message appears over a portion of the navigation bar. For example, DealTime has a button that appears across the 1stUp.com network, which provides them with superior branding space and sends a significant amount of traffic to their site each month.

"1stUp.com delivers quality users to DealTime," said Diana Scott-Monck, vice president of business development at DealTime. "1stUp.com, a fast-growing ISP service, has an impressive list of top-quality partners which we believe places our shopping message in a successful environment that attracts quality brand-loyal users to DealTime."

About 1stUp.com

1stUp.com, a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., is a market leader in providing online and offline brand names with private label Internet access solutions and innovative advertising technology. 1stUp.com's patent-pending technology enables its distribution partners to brand, market and distribute free and cost-effective Internet services to their customers. Multiple, leading ISPs support 1stUp.com's extensive ISP network to provide reliable connectivity. The 1stUp.com network is the largest in North America based on total dial-up numbers and delivers reliable Internet access to more than 95 percent of the United States and Canada. 1stUp.com powers Internet access solutions for leading brands like AltaVista, Excite@Home, Lycos, and more than 130 additional brands. By aggregating the more than 5.5 million registered subscribers of its distribution partners, 1stUp.com is able to pass along the benefits of optimal connectivity costs and advertising revenues to those partners.

For more information, visit www.1stup.com. 1stUp.com Corporation is located at 575 Market St., Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94105. Telephone: [phone].

1stUp and 1stUp.com are trademarks of 1stUp.com Corporation.

This release contains forward-looking statements, which address a variety of subjects. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: 1stUp's products and technologies may not successfully interoperate with those of third parties; 1stUp's business model is dependent upon advertising and may be adversely affected by the adoption of new laws and regulations affecting the provision of Internet advertising services, including laws and regulations covering privacy, pricing and content; and increased competition and technological changes in the markets in which 1stUp competes. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to CMGI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CMGI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.