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Company Press Release
-------July 17, 2001

SurfWax Inc. Launches New Power Tools for Internet Searching

    MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2001--SurfWax Inc. today announced new custom tools and features for power Web searchers. Offering much more than a meta-search engine, SurfWax (http://www.surfwax.com) provides an easy way to search for and manage information from the start to the finish of a search or research project.
    "SurfWax is an innovative service that offers a tremendous amount of value for the searcher," wrote SearchEngineWatch.com Associate Editor Chris Sherman in SearchDay (July 11, 2001). (http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/01/sd0711-surfwax2.html)
    "We envision a future with two types of Internet search," says SurfWax President & CEO Tom Holt. "One with quick grab-and-go searches -- like major search engines. The other a process of personalized knowledge capture and sharing for ongoing search and interest tracking -- like SurfWax. Our goal is to provide an infrastructure that lets users make the best use of their search results."

With SurfWax, users can:
    -- Access thousands of online search sources in the form of customized SearchSets. Each SearchSet can then be used to search the Web. Sherman wrote, "The beauty of SearchSets is that you can create your own meta-search that uses any of the general-purpose engines like AltaVista as well as vertical or specialized sources like FindLaw. By providing the capability to mix and match sources, SurfWax effectively serves as a gateway to information on both the visible and Invisible web."
    -- Preview a page via a "SiteSnap" (summary) of key points. SiteSnaps also offer Context Zooming which takes the user to highlighted paragraphs within the page.
    -- Capture page summaries (SiteSnaps) into an "InfoCubby" folder which can be annotated and shared with other users--the first "search & collaborate" tool.
    "Our mission is to develop search tools that allow users to easily search the Web and then manage the information they find. A useful Web search doesn't start and end with a search query. Multiple sources, summarization, and knowledge management are also important," adds Larry Burke, SurfWax CTO.
    The new SurfWax features are available at three levels: a Free service, the Silver service (for $24.00 a year) or the Gold service (for $60.00 a year.)

About SurfWax, Inc.
    Based in Menlo Park, California and formed in June, 2000 after 3 years of research and development, SurfWax, Inc. offers leading-edge search and retrieval technology for use with the Internet and enterprise intranets.
    SurfWax is a registered trademark of SurfWax, Inc. SearchSets, SiteSnaps, ContextZooming, and InfoCubby are trademarks of SurfWax, Inc. Copyright 2001 SurfWax, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    --30--PS/ch*

    CONTACT: SurfWax Inc.
             Thomas D. Holt, 650/216-7873; tom@surfwax.com
             http://www.surfwax.com


    KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS INTERNET