Hoover's And The FORTUNE Group Announce Comprehensive Strategic Alliance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Deal To Include Content Integration, Subscriptions, Advertising And E-Commerce

AUSTIN, Texas - February 5, 2001 -- Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV), a leading provider of online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology, and The FORTUNE Group at Time Inc., part of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: AOL), today announced a strategic agreement to collaborate on online content integration, subscriptions, advertising and e-commerce initiatives.

The FORTUNE Group is composed of FORTUNE, FSB: FORTUNE Small Business, and eCompany Now magazines, and their corresponding Web sites: FORTUNE.com, fsb.com and ecompany.com. AOL Time Warner is one of Hoover's largest shareholders, owning approximately 17 percent of Hoover's.

Under the new strategic agreement, Hoover's will license certain types of its proprietary company information to FORTUNE.com, including Hoover's Company Capsules on more than 17,000 public and private companies worldwide and Hoover's Industry Snapshots on more than 56 industries. FORTUNE Group publications and Web sites will provide content for Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), including several of the annual FORTUNE lists, such as the FORTUNE 500, America's Most Admired Companies and 100 Best Companies to Work For, and articles from FSB and eCompany Now. In addition, the companies will deliver to each other a variety of cooperative promotional programs - including advertising, promotions and sponsorships within Hoover's and FORTUNE's online and print properties.

"This agreement builds on our long-standing relationship with the AOL service, and increases Hoover's awareness to a very important demographic, while also bringing FORTUNE's unparalleled content directly to our users," said Patrick Spain, Hoover's CEO.

"Hoover's provides some of the best company information available on the Web, so this alliance will be of great value to our readers, who look to us in print and online for the best analysis on business," said Jack Haire, president of The FORTUNE Group.

About The FORTUNE Group

The FORTUNE Group at Time Inc. is comprised of FORTUNE, FSB: FORTUNE Small Business, and eCompany Now. FORTUNE, a biweekly business magazine is known for its unrivaled access to industry leaders and decision-makers. With a worldwide circulation of one million, and a worldwide readership of more than six million, FORTUNE reaches a wide and influential audience every two weeks. FSB: FORTUNE Small Business is published under an agreement between Time Inc. and American Express Publishing Corporation. eCompany Now, a monthly magazine and Web site venture based in Silicon Valley, covers the challenges and opportunities of doing business on the Internet.

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.

"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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