AppliedTheory Hosts Web's Newest Concept in Search Engines

SearchCactus.com Taps into AppliedTheory's Expertise for Program That Pays People to Search the Net

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- SearchCactus.com had the kind of problem every Internet startup wants: growth beyond expectations. But for the managers of this company, which pays people for using its search engine, it meant scrambling to find a hosting resource that could cope with its burst-at-the-seams expansion. SearchCactus.com (www.searchcactus.com ) recently found that resource in AppliedTheory (Nasdaq: )ATHY - news, which developed a managed application hosting solution for the company.

``Within just a few weeks of our launch in April we were getting up to half a million page views a day and signing up 20,000 new members a week,'' said Aaron Weitzman, SearchCactus.com's chief executive officer. ``We immediately outgrew our first hosting provider and began looking for a new one.''

Mr. Weitzman said he selected AppliedTheory because of its recommendation that SearchCactus.com adopt a managed application hosting plan, where AppliedTheory takes full responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the site. SearchCactus.com had previously maintained its own dedicated server that was co-located on the network of its first hosting provider.

``This was very attractive because it meant that we didn't have to assign any of our own employees to the task of managing the hosting solution,'' Mr. Weitzman said. ``As an advertising-dependent startup, it is very important to us that every one of our employees stay focused on serving our advertisers and members.''

When users sign on to SearchCactus.com for the first time, they fill out a brief demographic profile. They then earn two cents every time they click on an advertiser's link that appears in their SearchCactus.com search results. Advertisers, who use an automated bidding system to obtain high placements in the SearchCactus.com search listings, receive summary reports about the demographics of the users who click on their links, but users' personal information is held confidential.

Mr. Weitzman credits AppliedTheory's local representatives in Michigan with playing a significant role in the growth of SearchCactus.com. ``They immediately bought into the validity of our business model,'' he said. ``They understood the hosting issues related to our growth, but they went above and beyond the role of a hosting provider. They gave us support and ideas in terms of marketing and business planning as well. It has turned out to be a total picture solution, and we've established a very important relationship with them.''

AppliedTheory's expertise and experience were essential to quickly accommodating SearchCactus.com's fast growth and robust database and software application functions. An implementation coordinator oversaw the process of building the equipment, installing software and testing it to ensure it functioned optimally. A dedicated 100 megabyte connection on AppliedTheory's LAN ensures unlimited data transfer, giving SearchCactus.com confidence in its ability to handle continued growth in advertisers and members.

``This is a unique approach in the search engine business, and it meant developing a customized hosting solution for SearchCactus.com,'' said Luis Fiallo, vice president of product development for AppliedTheory. ``This is another example of how we tailor our hosting services to offer the best support for each company, from new startups to mature businesses.''

AppliedTheory offers one of the most advanced, highest performance Internet networks available. The company's network backbone has had 99.97% availability since January 1996. Direct connectivity to the global Internet is provided with a fully redundant, rigorously engineered high-speed backbone.

About AppliedTheory

With deep roots in the emerging Internet marketplace, AppliedTheory offers a peerless strategic vision to companies and public sector organizations seeking everything from simple Internet access to sophisticated large-scale, Internet-based application development. AppliedTheory's integrated solutions are tailored not only to the customer's immediate needs, but are engineered to respond to future demand, with an emphasis on customer support and service. Together with its strategic business partners, AppliedTheory implements a broad range of best-of-breed services nationwide, including e-Business Solutions, needs assessment and security consulting, AIP and dedicated Web hosting, Web access, Virtual Private Network (VPN) implementation and ongoing end-to-end support. More than a technology company, AppliedTheory understands the Internet business and how to do business on the Internet. AppliedTheory is headquartered in New York, N.Y. For more information, access the company's Web site at www.appliedtheory.com.

August 3, 2000

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