NetObjects also announced today the new GoBizGo.com (www.gobizgo.com) brand for its online e-business solutions service (see related press release). The first phase of GoBizGo.com provides everything a small business needs to be successful on the web through online accessed applications, including but not limited to: web site building, storefront building, e-commerce, promotion, and customer communications.

“Today more than ever it is important for small businesses to take advantage of the Internet to remain competitive,” said Mark Patton, executive vice president, and general manager of small business markets, NetObjects, Inc. “We’ve packed NetObjects Fusion 5.0 with new features to enhance productivity and control, while also offering a complete solution to give customers everything they need to host their account, add advertising banners, interact with their customers and set up their on-line store. We’ve leveraged our integrated browser and our Java API to allow many different solutions to expand the capabilities of NetObjects Fusion.”

In addition to enhancing the core strength of NetObjects Fusion – providing the fastest, easiest to use solution for building web sites –version 5.0 adds several new dimensions that create an even more complete offering for successful e-business web sites.  The NetObjects Fusion 5.0 approach helps businesses  plan, design, build, promote and grow their web site.

To help customers get their e-business up and running, NetObjects is offering one year of free web hosting from Concentric Network Corp. (NASDAQ: CNCX) to NetObjects Fusion 5.0 customers in the United States. The web hosting offer, a $290 value, is integrated with the NetObjects Fusion 5.0 Online View, so that once registered the customer can publish their Web site with one click, without having to configure any settings. 

"For the growing number of small businesses wanting to take part in the success of e-business, the new version of NetObjects Fusion goes beyond offering an easy-to-use web site building product," said Eric Klein, a Yankee Group analyst.  "NetObjects Fusion goes the extra mile to also make it simple to incorporate e-commerce and other important features into a web site."

Key new features and enhancements to NetObjects Fusion 5.0
NetObjects has researched the small business market and listened to its customers to deliver a product that exceeds expectations. With its new features and ease of use, NetObjects Fusion 5.0 is the most complete solution for small business web sites.

"NetObjects Fusion has always been very intuitive, very easy to use,” said Barry Cohen of Barca Solutions.  “Now, the functions are even easier.  That means I spend less time worrying about the technical side of design and more time being creative.  What an improvement to my profitability!"

The new features and enhancements of Fusion 5.0 include:

NetObjects Fusion Online
The new Online View provides a wide variety of online e-services and content to help an online business succeed. Through an integrated browser, the Online View is there every step of the way to help the user plan, design, build, promote, and grow an e-business. Whether the user is new to the process or needs a particular solution for e-commerce, forms, affiliate programs, and more, the Online View delivers—making the user more efficient and knowledgeable. Key partners and components add value and advantages. Without searching all over the web, users can find solutions in each of the following sections of the Online View for enhancing the commerce, connectivity, and community of their web sites.

Plan

• Identify goals and build a site structure.
• Sign up for one year free hosting with NetObjects hosting powered by Concentric Network
• Register a domain name with Register.com
• Plan out a Web site with helpful tips and articles

Design

• Create a professional look and feel.
• Find information on navigation strategies, color selections and choosing style
• Download over 200 additional NetObjects SiteStyles, or purchase WebSpice SiteStyles or Matrix Theme-Paks

Build

• Add quality content and popular effects.
• Learn how to communicate with customers – add community interaction with O’Reilly & Associates’ WebBoard
• Interact with customers by adding Web polls with Pollit.com, ExpressPoll, or Coolmap.com’s ClubPoll.
• Get images and animated gifs from Getty Images and StockObjects
• Learn how to add drop down menus
• Add multimedia and learn when it’s most effective
• Send out form email without any server side scripting
• Get $30 off the purchase of JASC Paintshop Pro 6.0

Promote

• Attract site visitors and keep them coming back.
• Register a site with the top search engines
• Sign up for Affiliate Marketing Programs from NetObjects and BeFree
• Sign up for NetObjects Clicks, a banner exchange program powered by SmartAge

Grow

• Add e-commerce and dynamic Web applications.
• Learn about e-commerce solutions and what works best for different types of businesses
• Set up a shop with everything from a catalog and shopping cart to transaction processing with iCOMS MerchantTrax™, NetStores, PDG Shopping Cart, QuickBuy Builder, Shop@ssistant Components, ShopZone, and other e-commerce solutions.
• Analyze your site traffic and gather visitation statistics with HitBox
• Add database integration with components and connectors for Microsoft ASP, Allaire ColdFusion and Lotus Domino

The Online View will be continually updated to give users new e-services and content that will have a direct and immediate positive impact on their web site.

Custom Navigation
Customizable Navigation bars let users create easy-to-navigate web sites. And because NetObjects Fusion 5.0 manages the navigation bars, there are no broken links. Navigation bars can now include links to pages anywhere within a web site or external web locations, as well as email and file links.

Edit HTML Source View
NetObjects Fusion 5.0 creates HTML code in an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop environment. Knowledge of HTML coding is not required. The new HTML Source tab in Page View lets the user view the HTML code generated by NetObjects Fusion so that they can add custom scripts or tags. Fusion makes it possible to add snippets of code or scripts anywhere—adding to the power of the visual drag-and-drop environment.

Strong support for Cascading Style Sheets
Improved StyleView gives the user greater control without having to write Cascading Style Sheets specifications. Users can create Cascading Style Sheets to guarantee consistent formatting of text throughout a web site, as easily as formatting with a word processor.

About NetObjects
NetObjects, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETO), an IBM affiliate (NYSE:IBM), is a leading provider of e-business solutions and services that enable small businesses and enterprises to build, deploy and maintain web sites on the Internet and corporate intranets.  Through its Small Business Online Division, NetObjects is revolutionizing the ease with which small businesses develop and grow their online business.  The GoBizGo online e-business building solution and NetObjects Fusion® software deliver complete online and desktop web site applications.  The NetObjects Enterprise Division is enabling enterprise intranet teams to work together more efficiently to develop, manage and update business web sites with its NetObjects Authoring Server Suite.  In addition, NetObjects Professional Services provides intranet and extranet solutions to Fortune 2000 customers and provides training, which encompasses complete web education on NetObjects products, web marketing/traffic building, site implementation, graphics and companion products. 

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This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such statements can be identified by the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", and similar expressions.  These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the market opportunities for web site building software and services, our strategy, and competition. These forward looking statements do not constitute assurances regarding our future operating results, including the impact of our acquisition of Sitematic Corporation upon our operations, cash flows, and financial condition.  Our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to various factors, including the risk factors described in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or relevant events occur in the future.