• by January 5, 2001

Advertising.com, Inc. yesterday announced that it will reduce its workforce from 287 to 215 employees. The staff reduction, coupled with a second year of consistent revenue growth and more than $50 million in funding secured in 2000 from strategic partners, will strengthen the company's business position for 2001 and beyond.

"We continue to be focused on the two things that are most critical to the success of our industry: delivering advertising products to the marketplace that deliver results to advertisers, and delivering these products profitably," said Scott Ferber, co-founder and chief executive officer of Advertising.com. "This reduction in our workforce is a proactive step to allow us to continue to develop and deliver industry-leading, performance-based solutions and achieve profitability much sooner than would otherwise be the case. We have never been in a stronger market position. Above all, our approach is an indication of how our business has matured from its early days as a start-up venture to a market leader today."

Advertising.com will continue to innovate products and services that have shown the greatest market potential in the industry. Among these are its ad serving technology, products that deliver customer acquisitions with online advertising and a service that gives marketers the ability to target audiences across all online channels, including wireless devices.

During 2000, Advertising.com reached numerous milestones and made several significant announcements. These included being rated the fastest-growing Internet Advertising Services Company in the United States by Dun and Bradstreet, and raising a total of more than $50 million in financing. Revenue grew to more than $45 million in 2000. The company launched its European operations with the opening of a London office. In addition, Advertising.com became one of the first companies to serve advertisements to wireless devices.

"The future of this industry is now being paved by the leaders and visionaries who continue to devise new technologies and strategies for maximizing performance for online advertisers, well beyond just counting clicks on banner ads," said John Ferber, co-founder and chief Internet officer of Advertising.com. "Through our Ad-OS(TM) delivery technology and AdLearn(SM) technology for measuring and precisely targeting online campaigns, we remain leaders in setting the course for the industry. Our staff restructuring will help us to continue operating ahead of the curve."

Scott Ferber emphasized that the decision to eliminate positions was a difficult one. The affected positions will not impact customer relationships.

Ferber said the company has provided severance and termination benefits, including outplacement assistance services, health and life benefits. The majority of the affected employees are in the company's Baltimore headquarters at Tide Point.

"The new economy is unforgiving of those companies that do not antic