NIELSEN//NETRATINGS ANNOUNCE TOP WEB SITE PROPERTIES AND ADVERTISERS FOR FEBRUARY, 1999

New Internet Population Estimates of 97.1 Million,
36% of the Total U.S. Population

NEW YORK, MARCH 22, 1999 - The first data release of the Nielsen//NetRatings service was announced today by Nielsen Media Research (NYSE: NMR) and NetRatings, Inc. Audience information for February 1999 includes: Top 25 Web properties, Top 25 Internet advertisers and Average Internet Usage Statistics. The Nielsen//NetRatings service is the result of a strategic alliance between Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc. announced in October 1998.

The two companies have jointly developed the Nielsen//NetRatings service to provide site publishers, advertisers and their agencies with accurate and reliable information about what Internet users are doing online. Nielsen//NetRatings is the only service that collects and reports both site and advertising information to its subscribers. Initial media customers include Amazon.com, AltaVista, iVillage, TV Guide, The Weather Channel, USA Today and Yahoo. Advertising agency customers include: BBDO, Bates USA, Cox Interactive Media, Ogilvy and Mather and Starcom IP.

The Nielsen//NetRatings service reports that 35 million US households or 97.1 million people currently have Internet access, an increase of 43 percent compared with the 24.5 million households with Internet access in the first quarter of 1998. These 35 million households represent approximately 34% of the households in the US, which is an estimated 36% of the total US population.

The Nielsen//NetRatings service derives data from the industry’s leading research panel of more than 9,000 US Internet users in randomly selected US households. All site and advertising data is collected in real time via the Internet and reported in online weekly and monthly reports. The 100% random digit dial (RDD) panel is designed, recruited and managed by Nielsen Media Research, which has provided high-quality audience information on television audiences for nearly 50 years. Projections are based on a regular enumeration of the US Internet population, which helps ensure the panel accurately reflects the fast-growing user community and, thus, provides data projectable to the entire current Internet user population.

Top Web Sites by Property
Month of February 1999
Ranking of the Most Visited Web Properties

*Unduplicated audience

Rankings based on audience measurement of persons, ages 2 and above, who have access to the Internet from home.

Top Advertisers - BannerTrack Report
Sites are aggregated to the domain level and ranked by impressions. Month of February 1999

Rankings based on audience measurement persons, ages 2 and above, who have access to the Internet from home.

*Total impressions and unduplicated audience size are based on banner ads meeting minimum sample criterion of 40 persons per unique banner.

Internet User Statistics
February 1999
Statistics below represent average activity for an
Internet user during the month of February.

Comprehensive Site and Advertising Information Reported

The Nielsen//NetRatings Web Site Reports provide key measures of Internet user site activity by property, domain, unique site, and category. Reported audience information includes: unique audience size and demographic profile of the unique audience, site rank, % reach, page views, pages per person, time per person and % of pages from browser cache. Audience demographics for each site includes: age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, and occupation.

The Nielsen//NetRatings BannerTrack^SM Reports provide detailed audience information about Internet advertising for use in competitive research, media planning, creative and post-buy analysis. Advertising information reported is ranked by: number of user impressions for each unique ad banner, advertiser and site advertised, unique audience size, and demographic profile of users that were exposed to or clicked on the banner.

Audience Summary Reports, such as the Internet Average User Statistics report, give a comprehensive profile of the entire Web audience: unique audience, page views, audience demographics, frequency and time spent information.

About NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc., a Web audience research company, provides Internet advertisers, marketers, site publishers, media planners and Web professionals with comprehensive information about Web user interaction with Web sites and ad banners. The company's innovative data collection technology, NetRatings Insight^TM software, captures detailed Web usage information from a randomly recruited, statistically representative group of Web users and compiles behavioral data with in-depth demographic and lifestyle profile information. Online Observer^SM, NetRatings' market research service, enables companies and agencies to design more effective strategies to build and extend their brands, communicate targeted messages and conduct electronic commerce through the world. See www.netratings.com for more information.

About Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is the leading provider of television audience measurement and related services in the United States and Canada. Its National People Meter Service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, and national syndicators. Local rating services estimate audiences for each of 210 television markets in the US, including electronic metered service in 40 markets. Nielsen Media Research also provides competitive advertising intelligence information, as well as Internet and Web page usage analysis. More information on the company is available at the company's Web site: www.nielsenmedia.com.

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Note to Editors: Nielsen Media Research is the well-known TV ratings company. It is separate from ACNielsen Corporation, the market research services company.

Safe Harbor:
This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Nielsen Media Research believes the statements are reasonable, it can make no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. This information may involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with competition in the market for audience measurement services; the ability to develop new or advanced technologies and systems for the company's business on a cost-effective basis; the ability to timely and cost-effectively resolve any problems associated with the Year 2000 issue; the results of litigation affecting the company; the ability to successfully achieve estimated effective tax rates and corporate overhead levels; regulatory and legislative initiatives; leverage and debt service (including sensitivity to fluctuations in interest rates); compliance with covenants in loan agreements; the ability to obtain future financing on satisfactory terms; deterioration in economic conditions, particularly in the media or other industries where customers operate; and other factors detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.