With Over 300,000 Categories Edited by More Than 28,000 Editors, the ODP Ranks as the World's Single Largest Human-Edited Internet Directory

Ask Jeeves Joins More Than 100 Leading Internet Companies in Licensing ODP Data

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., August 14, 2000 - Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL), today announced that its Internet search directory, the Netscape Open Directory Project (ODP), has surpassed two million Web sites, doubling in size in less than a year, making it the Internet's largest human edited directory.

The first Internet directory search service built by the Web community at large, the Open Directory Project now offers more than 2,000,000 sites in over 300,000 categories from 229 countries in 44 languages.

Also today, Ask Jeeves, Inc.(r) (NASDAQ: ASKJ), announced it has licensed the ODP as the primary directory for its popular natural language question and answer technology and services. Joining Ask Jeeves, nearly 100 other Web sites license ODP data, including a variety of industry-leading search engines, such as AOL Search, Netscape Search, Lycos, Google, HotBot, and InfoSpace. Through these licensing partners, Open Directory Project data is available to over 20 million unique visitors per month.

"In two years of existence, the Open Directory Project has seen unparalleled growth and record adoption to become the largest and most relevant directory of the Web," said Jim Martin, Senior VP and General Manager of Netscape. "As the number of sites and contributors continues to grow worldwide, the ODP will move into new directions, building upon the open source movement and the enthusiasm of the Web community."

In addition to its outstanding growth and rate of adoption, the Open Directory is moving beyond its roots as a search directory and being employed by partners as a model for classifying and organizing different types of information online. In the past few months, the ODP has been licensed by a number of non-search engines, assisting in the creation and classification of targeted information. Using the ODP's structure and taxonomy, companies such as eGroups and Themestream are able to categorize vast amounts of information, easing access to data and resources. Netscape and AOL are developing online applications that will employ both the ODP's data and structure including the new My Sidebar Directory in the new Netscape 6 browser. In addition, a restaurant review service based on the ODP model is currently in beta and will be released by Netscape later this year.

About The Open Directory Project By encouraging the Internet community to work together, the Open Directory Project has found a way to bring organization to the world's largest library, the Internet. Rather than rely on automated Web crawlers to find and categorize Web sites, the ODP depends on people to cull out irrelevant or useless links, keeping only the best content for everyone on the Internet to use. Netscape promotes the continued growth of the Open Directory by making it easier for individuals to add to it by offering the ability for fellow contributors to contact others through the AOL Instant Messenger (SM) and ICQ services. ODP Editor tools are localized in nine different languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Basque and Czech, for easy submission of foreign language sites. PCWorld Magazine recently named the Open Directory Project a "search superstar" as the Web's best directory.

About Netscape

About Netscape Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software that links people and information over the Internet. Netscape pioneered the development of world-class Web browsers, including Netscape Navigator and the new Netscape(r) 6, a preview of which is available now in free download from www.netscape.com/download. Netscape Netcenter is one of the most visited sites on the Internet during daytime hours with over 32 million registrants who have access to smart tools and services that empower users to take charge of their Internet experience. A subsidiary of America Online, Inc., Netscape is based in Mountain View, California. Additional information on Netscape is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, by sending email to info@netscape.com, or by calling 650-254-1900.