Hoover's Teams With Mergent To Expand International Company Coverage On All Six Hoover's Online Sites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Deal Brings Hoover's Online Users Information On Nearly 9,000 Non-U.S. Enterprises

AUSTIN, Texas - March 27, 2001 - Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV), a leading provider of online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology, and its London-based subsidiary Hoover's Online Europe Limited, today announced they are expanding international company coverage on the company's six business research Web sites. Through an agreement with Mergent, Inc., formerly part of Moody's Investors Service and one of the leading providers of global business and financial information on publicly traded companies, Hoover's users can find the expanded coverage on the businessperson's premier online information resource Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), as well as on Hoover's Online U.K. (www.hoovers.co.uk) and the company's local language sites in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

As part of the agreement, Hoover's is integrating into its Web sites Mergent's company information on nearly 9,000 non-U.S. publicly traded companies. Hoover's users can now access Mergent content, including company descriptions, contact information and officer and subsidiary lists, as well as three years of financials. Mergent information is being added to both the free and subscription areas of Hoover's Web sites.

"Mergent's company content is extremely helpful to businesspeople who need global business information to get their jobs done," said Patrick Spain, Hoover's CEO. "While Hoover's already covers more than 4,600 companies outside the U.S., this agreement allows us to quickly expand our coverage to more than 90 percent of the non-U.S. global market capitalization, meeting customer demand for more information on companies around the world."

"Like Hoover's, Mergent has a solid reputation for timely and high-quality data," said Vicki Raeburn, president of Mergent. "Mergent has been producing and distributing public company information since 1900 and we're pleased to make that information available to a new audience of Hoover's users."

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 site Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com) and the company's local language 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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