REDMOND, Wash., and NEW YORK, June 12, 1997 — MSN
™
, The Microsoft Network Internet online service ( http://www.MSN.com/ ), and The Mining Company
™http://miningco.com/ today announced that links to The Mining Company’s network have been incorporated into MSN, adding breadth and depth to the content and community of the United States’ second-largest online service. As a result of this distribution agreement, the 2.3 million global members of The Microsoft Network, as well as visitors to MSN.com, will now have integrated access to the nearly 400 Guides at The Mining Company.
“By incorporating The Mining Company’s hundreds of qualified sites, MSN becomes an even greater information resource for our members,”
said Laura Jennings, vice president, The Microsoft Network.
“People are working too hard to find what they’re looking for on the Internet. Through relationships like ours with The Mining Company, MSN members can put the Internet to work for them.”
The announcement is strategically important for both companies. MSN further establishes itself as a valuable distribution platform for the best content on the Internet, while The Mining Company gains immediate exposure to the 2.3 million members of MSN and becomes linked to one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the Internet, MSN.com.
“Our goal is to align with the best companies to bring traffic to our Guides’ sites,”
said Scott Kurnit, founder of The Mining Company.
“MSN is the first online service to recognize the power that our Guides will bring to its members. This deal is indicative of our ability to work closely with a broad range of significant parties on the Net.”
Starting today, members of The Microsoft Network will find links to The Mining Company throughout the MSN Premier service, including the Onstage and Find areas. Additional links to The Mining Company will be found throughout MSN in the near future. Visitors to MSN.com will also have access to The Mining Company’s links. This collaboration will help members of MSN by consolidating and organizing many of the diverse areas of interests on the World Wide Web in one convenient place.
Links to The Mining Company sites will enhance MSN online community content by adding depth to existing forums and services. For instance, followers of the popular women’s online entertainment and information magazine show on MSN, UnderWire
™
, will now have access to relevant sites at The Mining Company such as its Women’s Issues site.
In addition to Microsoft® Investor, members of MSN looking for business and industry resources will now have access to The Mining Company’s business-related information including sites dedicated to Purchasing, Publishing and Real Estate.
The Mining Company’s unique structure currently features hundreds of individual special-interest sites, each led by a Guide, a person handpicked for his or her passion, personality and expertise in a specific subject area. Guides are responsible for
“mining”
the Net for the most relevant and valuable information on their topic. Current topics range from mutual funds to Java, from purchasing to Southern cooking, as well as local sites such as Pittsburgh and Hong Kong.
The Mining Company
The Mining Company is a division of General Internet Inc., a New York-based Internet service development company. The Mining Company’s goal is to rescue frustrated consumers by offering a network of people-powered special-interest sites with a consistent
“look and feel,”
and to meet the needs and amplify the talents of independent Web producers throughout the world. The Mining Company, headquartered one block from the United Nations in New York, was founded by Scott Kurnit and a team of experienced Internet professionals. You can find us on the Web at http://miningco.com/ or via e-mail at [email protected] . General Internet Inc. can be found at http://generalinternet.com/ or via e-mail at [email protected] .
MSN Background
The award-winning MSN is the third-largest online service in the world, offering valuable services, rich communications and communities, and compelling entertainment on the Internet. MSN also provides hundreds of special-interest forums and bulletin boards and such high-quality services and Web shows as the Microsoft Encarta® multimedia encyclopedia, the Expedia
™travel service, Star Trek: Continuum® , Disney’s Daily Blast
™
and Disney’s Family.Com
™
, the Slate
™
online magazine, the CarPoint
™
online automotive service, the Microsoft Investor online investing service, and up-to-date news and information from MSNBC News. The MSN home page can be reached at http://www.MSN.com/ . Additional press information is available at http://press.MSN.com .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, MSN, UnderWire, Encarta, Expedia, Slate and CarPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The Mining Company is a trademark of General Internet Inc.
Star Trek: Continuum is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Daily Blast and Family.Com are trademarks of Disney Online.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The Microsoft Network is operated by Microsoft Corp. on behalf of Microsoft Network LLC.
Note to editors : If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
