Atlas DMT Unveils First-ever Capability to Put Online Media Planning On Par With Traditional Offline Campaigns.

Business Editors

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2001

New GRP and Reach Forecaster Provides Media Planners Only Tool That

Predicts Performance of Online Campaigns

Atlas DMT(TM), an advertising technology provider and operating unit of Avenue A, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVEA), announced today that it has unveiled its GRP and Reach Forecaster, patent pending, the first-ever Gross Rating Points (GRPs) tool for online media.

This new capability, which dramatically simplifies the process of planning a campaign, enables agency and in-house media planners to forecast online GRPs, reach, and frequency for the first time, enabling them to make apples-to-apples comparisons between online and traditional media buys.

Until now, the online advertising industry has never had a tool that combines the two types of data necessary to predict online GRPs. While the equation to calculate GRPs is well known, the difficulty to date has been in finding the necessary online data to forecast reach and frequency. Atlas DMT, creator of the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite, developed its GRP and Reach Forecaster for online media by linking its rich proprietary Internet data with data from a leading provider of web site demographic data.

GRP, the standard measurement for quantifying advertising exposure in traditional advertising, can be derived by multiplying reach times the average frequency for a buy. When GRPs are calculated for specific audience demographic groups, they are known as Targeted Rating Points (TRPs).

"This is a tremendous step forward for the advertising industry. Traditional agencies and media planners have been searching for a way to evaluate the potential effectiveness of online advertising alongside traditional media," said Michael Donahue, Executive Vice President of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA). "Atlas DMT's new GRP and Reach Forecaster will definitely help traditional agencies plan online advertising more efficiently."

"Media planners need an accurate reach and frequency method for online media -- one that recognizes the unique dynamics of Web usage," said Jim Spaeth, president of the Advertising Research Foundation. "The goal of the GRP and Reach Forecaster is to help media planners easily integrate online media into the media planning process. This marks true innovation."

The GRP and Reach Forecaster is the latest in a series of online media planning innovations from Atlas DMT that provide media planners and buyers timesaving tools, integrated data management, and comprehensive analytics that are essential for managing a successful campaign.

"There have been two major barriers to the growth of online advertising: it is highly complex and there is a lack of standardized metrics that compare online media and offline media," said Tom Sperry, president of Atlas DMT. "Atlas DMT is solving both of these issues."

For more information about the Atlas GRP and Reach Forecaster, please call 866/285-2736, or go to http://www.atlasdmt.com/insights/dm.asp to read the Atlas Institute Digital Marketing Insight, "Traditional Advertising Metrics on the Web: Forecasting GRPs, Reach and Effective Reach Online."

About Atlas DMT

Atlas DMT(TM) is an advertising technology provider and an operating unit of Avenue A, Inc. Atlas DMT is the creator of Atlas(TM) Digital Marketing Suite 2.0, the industry's first complete digital marketing management system built by and for marketers. With more than 50,000 campaigns to its credit, the Atlas Suite helps advertising agencies and other marketing professionals deliver efficient, profitable digital marketing programs. The end-to-end system integrates online media planning, buying, third party ad delivery and analysis. Atlas DMT serves its clients from offices in Seattle and New York, delivering the industry's most complete service and support. To learn more, please visit http://www.atlasdmt.com.

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the management at the time the statements are made and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this release include representations concerning the functionality and improvements in efficiencies associated with the use of Atlas Digital Marketing Suite and GRP Reach and Forecaster. Factors that could affect Avenue A, Inc.'s actual results include, among others, delays in making available selected modules of the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite, errors and defects in the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite software and users' inability to obtain satisfactory improvements in efficiencies in conducting online advertising campaigns using Atlas Digital Marketing Suite and GRP Reach and Forecaster. Other factors that could affect Avenue A, Inc.'s results include inability to attract new clients and to achieve effective advertising campaigns for existing clients, limited operating history, history of losses, quarterly and seasonal fluctuations in operating results, the short term nature of Avenue A, Inc.'s contracts with clients which are cancelable on 90 days' or less notice, the uncertainties and potential cost of litigation and the risks of adverse rulings by the court presiding over a previously announced pending lawsuits which might materially and adversely affect Avenue A, Inc.'s business. More information about factors that potentially could affect Avenue A, Inc.'s financial results is included in Avenue A, Inc.'s Form 10-Q, as amended, for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2001 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements that speak only as to the date of this release. Except as required by law, Avenue A, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Avenue A, Inc. has applied for registration of the "Avenue A" and "Atlas" service marks in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks, trade names or company names referenced herein are used for identification only and are the property of their respective owners.