Hoover's Makes Major Play In Enterprise Portal Market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hoover's Portal Windows To Be Included In IBM WebSphere Portal Server And Lotus K-Station Portal Products

AUSTIN, TEXAS - March 21, 2001 - Strengthening its presence in the enterprise portal market, Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) today announced agreements with both International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) [NYSE: IBM] and its subsidiary Lotus Development Corp. to develop a series of Hoover's Portal Windows, also known as portlets, for inclusion within the IBM WebSphere Portal Server and Lotus K-Station software. Hoover's is a leading provider of online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology.

Hoover's Portal Windows are navigational windows into Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), the premier online information resource for businesspeople. As part of the agreement, Hoover's has converted its Portal Windows into portlets for IBM and Lotus customers. These portlets will deliver direct access to Hoover's highly relevant business content.

"The enterprise portal market is growing rapidly, and we're excited to join with IBM and Lotus to take advantage of the opportunities to reinforce our companies' commitment to our corporate customers and users," said Carl Shepherd, executive vice president, Hoover's. "Our Hoover's Portal Windows are a must-have for our corporate customers who want our company information delivered through their IBM enterprise portal."

"By adding access to Hoover's Company Information as IBM portlets, we can offer immediate access to some of the most comprehensive business content available on the Web," said Larry Bowden, vice president, e-portal solutions, IBM Software Group. "This agreement helps us to fulfill our mission of providing critical business applications and information within a personalized portal workspace."

The Hoover's Portal Windows to be included as portlets in IBM WebSphere Portal Server and Lotus K-Station include:

• Business Buzz - includes the five top news stories of the day, hand-selected by Hoover's Online editors
• Capsule Search - includes coverage on more than 65,000 companies worldwide
• Headline News - displays the top five news headlines from a preconfigured Hoover's query
• Industry Updates - covers the latest news within dozens of industry sectors
• IPO Information - includes IPO Alerts, an IPO Hot List and IPOs On Deck
• Simple Search - allows ad hoc searching of daily news headlines
• Stock Quotes - returns information for one ticker or many
• Travel - includes flight booking, plus car and hotel reservation capabilities, as well as comprehensive hotel, dining and entertainment information on more than 100 worldwide locations

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, Texas, and has offices in London, New York City 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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