Americans report it's messy out in cyberspace; While 80 percent of Americans online feel the information on the Internet is useful, most say they need help finding the information they want.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1996-- The Internet has clearly caught on with Americans, though most feel right now they spend more time navigating the complex computer network in search of what they want rather tha finding anything useful.

This, according to a national survey sponsored by Lycos Inc., a leading Internet search and guide company, gauging everyday Americans' hopes and fears about Cyberspace. The survey reveals that Americans are clearly hopeful for the role the Internet will play in their lives, but they are frustrated at the prospect of trying to navigate the network easily to find useful information.

Whether they have actually logged on to the Internet or not, Americans are optimistic about the new medium that connects an estimated 50 million people around the world by computer. Eighty percent of those online, and 54 percent of those not online (59 percent of all respondents), say they believe the information on the Internet is useful. But there is a big difference between Americans' ideas about the value of information in Cyberspace, and their abilities to access that information: 54 percent of those online report they spend most of their time searching for information rather than finding it. An of those not online, 46 percent believe that if they were online, they'd spend more time in search of information than actually finding it.

"Surfers, it seems, are finding it's messy out there in Cyberspace," said Robert Davis, president and CEO of Lycos. "More importantly, they seem to be crying out for the Internet to be useful, and not just fun."

Cyberspace has an estimated 40 million places to visit, study or check out. In the two years since there has been point-and-click, multi-media access to the Internet (the World Wide Web), the number of people logging on has exploded to tens of millions, and words like "homepages" and "email" have become part of America's mainstream language. Everyday, people fueled with just a little bit of curiosity launch into Cyberspace seeking useful information or hoping to connect and interact with others.

This Internet bullishness is confirmed by the Lycos survey. Whether they are online or not, the Americans surveyed do not view the Internet as something that would complicate their lives. Further, they report that the new electronic medium with its oceans of information will neither complicate their lives nor does the prospect of going online make them feel they would be isolated from others. Of all survey respondents, 63 percent say the Internet does not complicate life for them. (87 percent of those online, and 57 percen of those not online agreed.) In fact, 58 percent of all those surveyed actually thought the Internet would simplify their lives.

Further, 66 percent of all respondents report that the prospect of being online is not isolating (87 percent of those online, and 62 percent of those not online, agreed.)

The telephone survey of 1,000 Americans on attitudes and thoughts on Cyberspace polled 486 men and 514 women across the nation. The survey was conducted by Market Facts, an Illinois-based research firm, and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

Lycos, Inc., an Internet exploration company, was founded specifically to identify and categorize information on the Internet and World Wide Web. Lycos was formed by CMG@Ventures, a strategic Internet investment and development company of CMG Information Services, Inc.

CMG Information Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGI) is a majority shareholder in Lycos, Inc. through its @Ventures strategic investment and development busines unit. CMGI is a leading provider of direct marketing services and an innovato in the development of Internet, interactive media and database management technologies.

CONTACT: Sarah Garnsey

Lycos, Inc.

508/229-0717 ext. 228

[e-mail]

Erika Schutz or Len Cercone

Mullen PR

508-468-1155

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