July 28, 2000

CONTACT: Terry Redding: 703-359-0200 x478

FAIRFAX, VA

Following the public interest generated by the TOP9.com listing of offensive "lock-in" web sites, the search and ranking directory has announced that an additional 37 sites have been added to its July listings (found at http://www.top9.com/lockin.html). These include such industry leaders as Road Runner, HBO and Dell Computers. The current total of sites appearing on TOP9.com, based on the web's top 10,000 sites, now stands at nearly 80.

Additionally, TOP9.com has added an extensive list of escape strategies (http://www.top9.com/lockinescape.html) to help surfers deal with the lock-in sites. The list describes easy navigational techniques for surfers to utilize if they get "locked in" to a site they wish to exit.

"We were a bit surprised by the response to our initial listing of lock-in sites," said Dan Bohan, president of TOP9.com. "Apparently this issue touches a nerve with the surfing public, and we hope our escape strategies will be a useful tool for web users."

Bohan also noted that a few sites, such as britneyspears.com and iwon.com, have already begun to "unlock" their sites, and these have been noted on the TOP9.com listings as well. "Some sites may be unaware that their coding affects browsers as it does," said Bohan. "Thus our listing helps not only consumers but site managers as well."

Following the popularity of the lock-in announcement, TOP9.com will soon announce a listing of sites that annoy surfers with unwanted "pop up" windows. There are over 100 of these sites currently among the TOP9.com rankings.