Hoover's Forges Strategic Alliance With GlobalNetFinancial.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Deal To Include Mutual Content Integration, Marketing And Advertising Components

AUSTIN, TEXAS - January 29, 2001 - Further extending its reach into Europe, Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) and its London-based subsidiary Hoover's Online Europe Limited today announced a strategic agreement with GlobalNetFinancial.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLBN; LSE: GLFA) ("GlobalNet"). Hoover's is a leading provider of online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology. GlobalNet is an international financial portal providing online financial news, content and transaction execution services.

As part of the deal, Hoover's and GlobalNet will work together to provide certain of their respective high-quality business content and services to the other for worldwide distribution via the online properties of each, including Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), Hoover's Online U.K. (www.hoovers.co.uk), and the four Hoover's Online sites in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as GlobalNet's extensive family of money and finance sites, including GlobalNetFinancial.com (www.globalnetfinancial.com), UK-iNvest (www.ukinvest.com), Canada-iNvest (www.canadainvest.com) and Deutscher-Finanzmarkt (www.deutscherfinanzmarkt.com).

"This alliance helps to extend and solidify the Hoover's brand to the growing European online audience, not only through GlobalNet's own collection of leading Web sites, but also through its strategic relationships with some of the top ISPs in Europe, such as Freeserve and World Online," said Patrick Spain, Hoover's CEO.

"Hoover's has a prominent brand name and timely, authoritative company information," said GlobalNet CEO Tom Hodgson. "Our integration further enhances GlobalNet's position as a leading financial portal."

GlobalNet's COO Ron Goldie added, "This agreement is particularly significant for us, as it leverages the revenue-generating potential for our transactional platforms and further builds our brand in the U.S."

Under terms of the agreement, highlights of the mutual content integration include:

• From GlobalNet, to be integrated within various Hoover's Online properties -
  • Content from America-iNvest (Stocks to Watch; On the Move; Word on the Web);
  • Content from UK-Wire and UK Today;
  • Audio content including City Talk and CEO Says;
  • Prominent links to GlobalNet Transaction Platforms, including the EO.net trading platform for IPOs, and the MatchbookFX foreign exchange trading platform;

• From Hoover's, to be integrated within various GlobalNet Web properties -
  • Hoover's Company Capsules covering approximately 15,000 public and private enterprises worldwide, plus links to corresponding in-depth Hoover's Company Profiles; and
  • Hoover's IPO Capsules covering information on IPO companies.

"This deal is further proof that Hoover's is delivering on its strategy to rapidly develop into a major European player, and strong partnerships like this one will be key to our success in the U.K. and throughout Europe," said Gehan Talwatte, managing director for Hoover's Online Europe. "Partnering with GlobalNet will help us to quickly reach a critical mass of business users in Europe, just as Hoover's Online already does in the U.S."

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) provides online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology to help businesspeople get their jobs done. Hoover's information is available through its destination sites Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com) and the company's other sites in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K., through syndication and co-branding agreements with more than 30 other online services, and through customized applications developed for enterprise information portals, corporate intranets and business-to-business vertical and content sites. Hoover's investors include AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Media General (AMEX: MEG.A), NBC -- a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Knowledge Universe, through its Knowledge Net Holdings and Nextera Enterprises (Nasdaq: NXRA) units. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, TX, and has offices in Linthicum, MD; London; New York City; Reston, VA; and San Francisco.

About GlobalNetFinancial.com

GlobalNetFinancial.com is a rapidly expanding international financial portal providing online financial news, investment tools, and transaction services. GlobalNetFinancial is leveraging its highly trafficked websites by partnering globally with leading ISP's and Internet portals, direct access share trading companies and other brokerage and clearing firms to create an international network of online transaction businesses dealing in North American and European stocks, foreign exchange and other financial services such as insurance. GlobalNetFinancial owns substantial stakes in these transaction businesses. GlobalNetFinancial's family of Money & Finance content websites includes UK-iNvest.com, America-iNvest.com, Canada-iNvest.com, Italia-iNvest.com, Neder-iNvest.com, Danmark-iNvest.com, France-iNvest.com, Norge- iNvest.com, Solbors.com, Espana-iNvest.com, Deutscherfinanzmarkt.com, Ibero-iNvest.com, Sverige-Finans.com and UK-Wire.com. GlobalNetFinancial's family of Money & Finance e-finance transaction websites includes StockAcademy.com, AladdinTrader.com, MatchBookFX.com, InsuranceWide.com, EO.net, and FundsDirect.co.uk. GlobalNetFinancial is the exclusive investment content provider to three of Europe's largest ISPs and portals - Freeserve (NASDAQ: FREE / LSE: FRE) in the UK, World Online across Europe, Scandinavia Online, the largest Internet portal in Scandinavia. GlobalNetFinancial recently entered into a separate agreement with BT Europe (NYSE: BTY) to deliver financial news and e-finance services via WAP to BT's network of approximately 20 million mobile phone users.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events or results that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the expected benefits of strategic relationships, future services and new products. Among the important factors which could cause actual results of Hoover's to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are the market demand and acceptance of new and enhanced services, the success of new features and tools from Hoover's Online and Hoover's Media Technologies, the retention of subscribers and customers, ability to attract new subscribers and customers, competition, economic conditions specific to the Internet, as well as general economic and market conditions and other factors described in Hoover's reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its prospectus and recent 10-K and 10-Q filings.

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