CyberAlert Publishes Internet Monitoring Handbook; Online Bashing Can be Countered; Handbook Explains How to Arm Your Business.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

STRATFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2000

CyberAlert Inc., the industry leader in Internet monitoring and Web clipping, today announced publication of its professional education booklet, Guide to Internet Monitoring: Strategies for Public Relations, Marketing and Competitive Intelligence.

The 24-page handbook for businesses and other organizations provides in-depth information on the applications and techniques of Internet monitoring to learn what others are saying about a company or brand; to manage corporate reputation and brand image; to identify trademark and copyright infringements; to track press clippings; and to conduct market research and competitive intelligence.

"Bad things happen to good companies on the Internet," explained William Comcowich, president and chief executive officer of CyberAlert Inc. "The Internet has become the favored weapon for angry customers, disaffected employees, and consumer activists to attack corporations and their products. These published criticisms influence attitudes and purchasing decisions of thousands or even millions of people worldwide, threatening a company and potentially causing serious financial damage."

As a result, monitoring what is said on the Internet about a company and its products has become a fundamental corporate responsibility. A well-conceived and well-implemented Internet monitoring strategy provides an early warning system by finding key nuggets of market intelligence or spotting important trends in published articles or criticism.

"This booklet summarizes what every business needs to know to protect their reputation against attack on the Internet," said Comcowich. "Because it emphasizes time-efficient and cost-effective techniques, it is especially appropriate for companies that want to minimize their costs of Internet monitoring and clipping."

Guide to Internet Monitoring and Clipping is a comprehensive handbook, complete with references and graphic illustrations, detailing the following subjects:

-- Why Monitor the Internet

-- Case Study: Financial Services

-- Methods of Attacking Corporations and Brands

-- Applications and Benefits of Internet Monitoring

-- Internet Monitoring Strategies

-- Advantages of Internet Monitoring and Clipping Services

-- Criteria for Selecting an Internet Monitoring Service

-- Developing an Integrated Corporate Internet Monitoring Program

-- Comparing Internet Monitoring and Web Clipping Services

Several case studies throughout the Guide highlight the benefits of Internet monitoring, including how a major sporting goods company got early warning of a rally to protest the company's employment practices and boycott the company's products; how an international banking company in the UK became aware of a serious image problem and major dissatisfaction among university students; and how a soft drink company discovered that a pornography site was using its trade name to attract traffic to its site. The booklet also describes how some well-known hoaxes and financial disasters could have been averted through Internet monitoring.

The author of the booklet is Amelia Kassel, president and owner of MarketingBASE (www.marketingbase.com), a market research and competitive intelligence firm.

Pricing and Availability

The free booklet is designed as a professional education program for widespread publication. In a departure from standard publishing methods, the copyrighted contents of the Guide may be copied from the CyberAlert Web site (http://www.cyberalert.com/whitepaper.html) and republished at will in its entirety or in part, provided the article or excerpt carries appropriate credits for the writer and for CyberAlert Inc.

Printed or HTML copies of the booklet are available from CyberAlert Inc., Foot of Broad Street, Stratford, CT. 06615. Phone: [phone]. [e-mail]

About the Author

As president and owner of MarketingBASE (www.marketingbase.com) in Sebastopol, Calif., Amelia Kassel has specialized in market research, competitive intelligence, and worldwide business information since 1984. She is author of Super Searchers on Wall Street: Top Investment Professionals Share Their Online Research Strategies (http://store.yahoo.com/infotoday/supsearonwal.html). In her "Web Wise Ways" column in Searcher Magazine (www.infotoday.com), she evaluates new Web databases and searching technologies. As a recognized author and national and international speaker, she conducts workshops for conferences and associations and consults for major corporations. [e-mail].

About CyberAlert Inc.

CyberAlert develops and markets CyberAlert 3.0, proprietary technology that enables businesses and communications professionals to monitor what is said on the Internet about their company or products. CyberAlert's software automatically monitors, filters and clips more than 2,700 Web publications and 63,000 UseNet groups daily. It also monitors over 3.5 million other commercial, academic and government Web sites. CyberAlert's comprehensive service includes a fully integrated, fully searchable clip management system with powerful archiving, text retrieval, knowledge management and data mining. Additional information about the company and CyberAlert 3.0 is available on the Web at http://www.cyberalert.com.