CNET Signs Compaq, Dell, Gateway, and Acer for New Premier PC Manufacturers Advertising Program

    SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of announcing its
 successful 1999 Premier Merchant Program, CNET, Inc. (Nasdaq:   CNET) today
 announced that it has entered into strategic marketing relationships with
 Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:   CPQ), Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:   DELL),
 Gateway (NYSE:   GTW), and Acer America Corp. to participate in CNET's Premier
 PC Manufacturers Advertising Program.  As Premier PC Manufacturers, these top-
 brand computer makers will roll out new advertisements across the CNET network
 in a groundbreaking marketing program designed to increase brand awareness and
 generate sales leads among CNET's large audience of technology product buyers.
 The program is modeled on CNET's successful Premier Merchant Program that
 continues to drive unparalleled numbers of highly qualified leads from CNET to
 participating computer products retailers.
 
     Giving PC Manufacturers What They Want
     Like the Premier Merchant Program inaugurated in 1998, the Premier PC
 Manufacturers Program was designed to grow visibility among and draw leads
 from CNET's 8.2 million monthly users* shopping for computing and technology
 products.  The Premier Merchant program had a 93% renewal rate for 1999.
     "We have clearly demonstrated our ability to drive real transactions to
 the retailers participating in our Premier Merchant Program," says Matt
 Comyns, CNET's Associate Vice President of Strategic Development.  "With this
 new program, we will deliver the same level of performance in driving sales
 leads directly to PC manufacturers -- further setting our position as the best
 place to link buyers and sellers together."
 
     Compaq.com launches a targeted marketing initiative with CNET
     Compaq Computer Corp. recently launched Compaq.com to sell Compaq
 products, services and solutions on the Web.
     "At Compaq.com, our advertising and e-commerce goal is, above all, to get
 qualified leads," says Kenny Kurtzman, Vice President and General Manager of
 the Compaq.com Division.  "CNET has worked with us to create a great lead-
 generation program, and to give us excellent brand-visibility across their
 network.  CNET has the type of audience we want to market to, and now we can
 reach these computing and technology buyers with the right messages at the
 right time."
 
     The Product Buying Cycle
     CNET has identified how its users move through the computer product buying
 cycle and maximizes this understanding to unite CNET users' needs with
 marketers' goals.  This process combines the right advertising unit with a
 targeted content environment, enabling marketers to reach technology buyers at
 each stage of the buying cycle: exploration, evaluation, and execution.  The
 Premier PC Manufacturers program matches ad-buying opportunities to these
 stages in order to heighten brand-awareness during exploration, generate leads
 during evaluation, and sell product during execution.
 
     About CNET: The Computer Network
     CNET, Inc. (Nasdaq:   CNET) is at the leading edge of media companies,
 producing a branded Internet network and television programming for both
 targeted and general audiences.  Online and on television, CNET is the leading
 authority on computers, the Internet, and digital technologies.  CNET's
 network serves millions of users each day.  CNET television programming airs
 on USA Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, and in national syndication, as well in 40
 foreign countries.  CNET effectively owns 40 percent of Snap.com, a search and
 navigation service for all Internet users, co-owned by NBC.  CNET also owns
 2.3 million shares of Vignette Corporation, a manufacturer of premier Web
 publishing software, and approximately 750,000 shares of Beyond.com, the
 world's leading online software reseller.
 
     * Media Metrix WWW Audience Ratings Report, March 1999
 
 

SOURCE  CNET