EarthLink Becomes First Major ISP to Include Anti-Pop-Up Ad Feature

Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK), today became the first major Internet service provider (ISP) to include, at no additional charge, a new feature that lets subscribers block annoying pop-up advertisements. EarthLink subscribers can now download a preview release of Pop-Up Blocker software at http://www.earthlink.net/popupblocker.

"With Pop-Up Blocker, customers can better manage their time online and minimize the aggravation of unwanted, seemingly incessant pop-up ads," said Rob Kaiser, vice president of narrowband marketing for EarthLink. "We believe that by offering the Pop-Up Blocker service to our subscribers, we are once again setting ourselves apart from the competition. More than two years ago we were one of the earliest major ISPs to launch a spam-fighting product -- 'spaminator.' Now, we're taking the lead with Pop-Up Blocker to provide our customers with a more enjoyable, less intrusive Internet experience."

Pop-Up Blocker is designed to prevent advertising windows from appearing above (pop-up) or under (pop-under) a customer's main browser window. The feature is embedded within the Microsoft Internet Explorer toolbar, so that EarthLink subscribers see the service as an icon on their browser screen. Every time an unwanted ad window is suppressed, Pop-Up Blocker alerts customers with an optional sound effect and a brief change in the appearance of the mouse icon.

For sites that use pop-up windows as a normal part of business, such as banks or fantasy sports sites, Pop-Up Blocker lets users specify certain Web addresses or URLs where pop-up windows are permitted to appear. Customers also can override Pop-Up Blocker by holding down the control key or clicking twice within two seconds on a link. Pop-Up Blocker features a drop-down menu in its toolbar that lists the URLs of the advertising windows that it has blocked, and users have the option of also viewing thumbnail images of the ads.

EarthLink acquired the technology for its new service from Salt Lake City- based FailSafe Technology Inc. EarthLink used the ad-blocking functionality of FailSafe's popular Guard-IE product to create Pop-Up Blocker, which features a simpler user-interface than the FailSafe product.

Future versions of Pop-Up Blocker will be included with EarthLink's TotalAccess(R) 2003 Internet software. Future EarthLink products may include additional features of Guard-IE, such as blocking script-driven drop-down ads and flash ads, as well as Guard-IE's privacy suite that offers services such as blocking cookies and bugs that could be used to track a user's Web history.

Information about EarthLink services is available by calling (800) EARTHLINK and through EarthLink's Web site at http://www.earthlink.net/.

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