REDMOND, Wash., March 27, 2002 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that The Wall Street Journal Europe recently ranked Judy Gibbons, vice president of MSN Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), as No. 13 of the 25 most successful women in European business during 2001. This award comes a short time after Gibbons became vice president of MSN EMEA in late 2000, and caps 2001 as a banner year for MSN EMEA. No executive from MSN global competitors AOL Time Warner Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. or from other European Internet companies made the list. The 11 judges selected the winners using criteria such as noteworthy successes or substantial achievements in 2001, especially when measured against peers in the same industry; challenges faced and strategic response to them; and whether others recognize the women as leaders in their industry.
Since Gibbons joined Microsoft in 1994 and later launched the MSN® network of Internet services in the United Kingdom, she has built a strong regional team incorporating members from diverse disciplines of the increasingly converged world of technologies, including software developers, network operators, graphic designers, editors, media salespeople, and marketing and business developers. Under her leadership, MSN EMEA has reached several key milestones over the past year, including the following:
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MSN officially surpassed Yahoo! in January 2001 in reach across Europe, as tracked by Jupiter Media Metrix, and is also ahead of Yahoo! in time spent online. 2
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MSN Europe increased its lead over Yahoo! over the past year, increasing reach by 19 percent. 1 MSN also exceeds the reach of European competitors such as Terra (Spain), Freeserve (the United Kingdom), and ItaliaOnLine Spa (Italy). 2
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MSN has a local portal in 19 EMEA markets, ranks as the No. 1 Web destination in eight EMEA countries (Austria, 3 Belgium, 3 Israel, 3 Netherlands, 3 Spain, 2 Sweden, 2 Switzerland 2 and the United Kingdom 2 ) and is one of the top three sites in 15 EMEA countries. 2, 3
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More than 34 million 2 unique users accessed European MSN sites in February 2002.
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Unique user traffic to MSN Europe sites grew 53 percent between February 2001 and February 2002. 1
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Microsoft and LINKdotNET, the largest private ISP in the Arab region, launched MSN Arabia in October 2001, bringing MSN services to consumers in the fast-growing Arab Internet market.
“This is an incredible honor, not only for me, but for the entire MSN EMEA team,”
Gibbons said.
“This recognition validates our success in making MSN the most useful and popular place on the Internet for European, Middle Eastern and African consumers as well as for customers looking for a highly effective online component to their marketing plans.”
MSN EMEA has secured key customer wins under Gibbons guidance and since the launch of the MSN Advantage Marketing program in EMEA in September 2001. Recent customers that have signed on to use the innovative digital marketing solutions of MSN in EMEA include AutoTrader Ltd., The Disney division of Buena Vista International, Heineken NV, MG Rover Group Ltd. and Samsung Group.
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 270 million unique users worldwide per month. Globally available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
1 Source: Jupiter Media Metrix, Europe Global Domains, February 2001February 2002.
“Europe”
includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden.
2 Source: Jupiter Media Metrix, Europe Global Domains, January 2001 and February 2002.
“Europe”
includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden.
3 Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, Property Report, February 2002 (EMEA Markets: Finland, Denmark, Norway, Israel, South Africa, Austria, Belgium and Netherlands)
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