Amazon.com Secures Prime Real Estate with Front-Screen Button on AOL.com, Prominent Banners and Promotions on AOL NetFind SEATTLE, WA and Dulles, VA (July 8, 1997)-- Amazon.com, Inc. [Nasdaq:AMZN] and America Online, Inc. [NYSE:AOL] today announced a three-year comprehensive promotional agreement under which Amazon.com will be the exclusive bookseller on AOL.com and AOL's NetFind search engine.

Under the agreement, Amazon.com will receive a permanent "above-the-fold" front-screen button (visible without scrolling down) on the AOL.com homepage, the most visited site on the Web. This button will link users directly to Amazon.com (www.amazon.com), the leading online bookseller, where they will be able to review and purchase books.

In addition, Amazon.com and AOL will introduce a new navigational tool that will allow NetFind users to link directly to relevant Amazon.com search results pages through a hyperlink on every AOL NetFind Results page. By offering users additional in-context access to books at the time of their search, Amazon.com and AOL will enhance NetFind's informational value and broaden user access to Amazon.com's 2.5 million titles.

Furthermore, Amazon.com will have broad exclusive promotional placement rights on AOL.com and NetFind, including a range of banner advertisements on selected NetFind Review Category pages and keyword categories.

In return, AOL will receive $19 million over three years, with the possibility of additional payments should Amazon.com sales revenues exceed thresholds specified in the agreement.

"Amazon's partnership with AOL gives us access to its more than 8 million members and makes us the exclusive booksellers to users of AOL.com and NetFind. We are especially enthusiastic about this agreement's creative approaches to putting information about Amazon.com in front of users when and where they are most likely to act on it," said Jeff Bezos, President and CEO of Amazon.com. "This is a significant step in Amazon's strategy of expanding our reach to online users."

"With the growing popularity of e-commerce on the Internet, this landmark agreement demonstrates AOL's market leadership and creativity in driving traffic and business to our partners not only from our core service, but from AOL.com, the number one destination in cyberspace," said Bob Pittman, President and CEO of AOL Networks. "The decision of Amazon.com, the leading consumer commerce site on the Web, to partner with us, also illustrates our leadership in penetrating the community of Internet users underscored by recent PCMeter measures showing that AOL accounts for 38 percent of all home traffic to the Web."

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Earth's Biggest Bookstore, is the leading online retailer of books, offering a catalog of 2.5 million titles, easy-to-use search and browse features, email services, Web-based credit card payment and direct shipping to customers. Amazon.com has virtually unlimited online shelf space and can offer customers a vast selection through an efficient search and retrieval interface.

About AOL.com and AOL Networks

AOL.com, AOL's proprietary Website, is a comprehensive guide to everything online and the number one destination on the World Wide Web. It includes AOL NetFind, the company's Internet navigation solution that helps users go beyond merely searching to finding the information, productions and services they are looking for online. In addition to a powerful web and news group search engine, AOL NetFind includes tools for finding both businesses and people, including Yellow and White pages, emails, addresses and maps, as well as editorial features such as Time Savers and AOL NetFind tips.

America Online Networks is a division of America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia. America Online Networks oversees the America Online consumer online network, the world's most popular Internet online service, with more than 8 million members. AOL, founded in 1985, offers its subscribers a wide variety of services including electronic mail, conferencing, software, computing support, interactive magazines and newspapers, as well as easy access to services of the Internet.

This announcement contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from predicted results. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, the unpredictability of its future revenues and risks associated with capacity constraints and management of growth. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in the company's final prospectus dated May 15, 1997, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Amazon.com and Earth's Biggest Bookstore are service marks of Amazon.com, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.