AltaVista Enhances Search

New Features, Upgrades Underscore Company's Commitment to Consumer Internet Search Services

PALO ALTO, Calif., February 28, 2001-AltaVista Company, the leading search and information marketplace at http://www.altavista.com, and a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI), has enhanced its consumer search capabilities with new features and upgrades, a further demonstration of the company's commitment to search leadership. AltaVista performs more than 50 million search queries on average each day-about one in three Internet searches.

Faster Search, Simple Navigation

AltaVista's newly designed search site offers a simplified navigation, faster load times and integrated search results from highly targeted search centers to deliver one of the most powerful search resources on the Web. The company has also introduced product searching among local, brick-and-mortar stores. Additionally, the company has reformulated its relevancy algorithms and increased the size of its Web page index for more relevant, accurate results. "AltaVista is dedicated to search," said David Karnstedt, vice president Internet Search, AltaVista. "These enhancements arm our users with the power to find what they want quickly in an intuitive, intelligent fashion." AltaVista is now the fastest pure search homepage, and it ranks among the top five fastest Internet sites, according to the Keynote Top 40, a performance tracker. While providing a faster load, the simplified layout features AltaVista's most popular search tools at the top of the page.

Vertical Search Centers

AltaVista is developing a series of vertical search centers, modeled after its successful shopping vertical, focused on aggregating information into highly segmented indices. This approach not only allows users to get specific with their search query along topical lines, but it gives advertisers the ability to effectively target their message. Results from search centers will be integrated into AltaVista search results pages for relevant user queries.

AltaVista Comparison-Shopping, Local Results

The newly revamped AltaVista Shopping is the primary example of a successful vertical search center strategy. This service provides online shoppers with integrated information on products and pricing from across the Web, local offers from select brick-and-mortar merchants, as well as variable priced auction results from uBid. AltaVista shoppers are able to save both time and money with these information sources, findings results on a single, customizable page. Product highlights include: - Web Search E-tailer Results: Users can find, compare and purchase products from more than 600 online merchants - Auction Results: Auction postings related to users' product searches provided by uBid - Localized Results: Users enter their zip code to search for local and promotional product specials from more than 350 brand name, brick-and-mortar stores, powered by SalesHound (Jupiter Communications' research show that 73 percent of online product research leads to offline spending) "As the volume of information on the Internet continues to grow, AltaVista will remain committed to delivering the most robust set of search tools to enable users' seamless navigation through the myriad of information," added Gannon Giguiere, senior director of Search Verticals for AltaVista.

Worldwide Branding


AltaVista has unveiled an updated logo and new tagline, "The Search Company." The new branding incorporates familiar elements of AltaVista's heritage and represents its strategic shift to a unified focus on search. AltaVista is organized along two business lines: Internet Search Services for consumers and Search Software, which provides AltaVista's search solutions to businesses. The new branding has been applied across www.altavista.com and its 19 country-specific search indices and services, as well as to the Search Software business.

About AltaVista

AltaVista Company is the leading search services and information marketplace on the Internet at http://www.altavista.com. Building on its strong search heritage and patented technology, AltaVista services and software are used to unlock the full potential of the Internet for Web users and to turn content and unstructured data into valuable information for businesses. The company is organized along two business lines: Internet Search services and Search Software for businesses. AltaVista offers users informative services including AltaVista Search (http://www.altavista.com), AltaVista Shopping and vertical search centers. AltaVista licenses its search technology and powers more than 1,000 of the world's leading e-commerce firms, portals and enterprises. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., AltaVista is a majority-owned operating company of CMGI Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI).

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AltaVista is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Shopping.com is a trademark of AltaVista Company or its affiliates. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. This release contains forward-looking statements which address a variety of subjects including, for example, the expected benefits, features and functionality of AltaVista's new advanced search capabilities and enhancements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: AltaVista's technologies and products may not successfully interoperate with those of third parties; AltaVista may experience difficulties integrating technologies, operations and personnel of recent acquisitions; AltaVista's growth depends upon continued and increased demand for and market acceptance of AltaVista's web sites; and increased competition and technological changes in the markets in which AltaVista 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 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the most recently ended fiscal