AOL, drkoop.com in $89 Million Content Deal

In a deal cutting across all that the mega site has to offer, America Online, Inc. and drkoop.com, Inc. Tuesday announced a
four-year, $89 million alliance.

Under the terms of the deal, AOL will roll out drkoop.com content across
its five brands by this fall and receive performance-based warrants to
purchase shares in the medical information company. In return, drkoop.com
will pay out $89 million over four years.

drkoop.com will also have access to AOL’s sales force, will support the
launch of new AOL products and services, and will also use software from
the Sun-Netscape alliance to support its services, the firms said.


“drkoop.com is the nation’s leading dedicated online consumer healthcare
network, and for decades, Dr. Koop’s message of openness and education has
resonated with Americans as they have looked for the information that will
allow them to make better health care decisions,” said Bob Pittman, AOL’s CEO.

“This agreement is also a clear example of the end-to-end e-commerce
solutions that AOL, the Sun-Netscape Alliance and Sun Microsystems as a
cohesive team can bring to our enterprise customers.”

“This partnership firmly establishes drkoop.com’s dominance in the online
healthcare arena — no one
can boast the traffic, presence and critical mass that we’ve secured
through this exciting alliance with AOL,” said Don Hackett, drkoop.com’s
president and CEO.

Media Metrix’s April and May reports dubbed drkoop.com as the top Internet
healthcare site.

In addition to its deal with AOL, drkoop.com also has agreements in place
with GO Health
Center, ABCNEWS.com, ESPN.com Training Room and the Family.com Health Channel.

In another content deal, AOL signed Tuesday a two-year advertising
agreement with Autoweb.com to bring the online auto dealer’s services to the AOL Network.

“This agreement not only extends our reach to the large base of AOL
members, but also gives Autoweb.com broad reach in selected automotive
areas across AOL brands,” said Dean DeBiase, president and CEO of
Autoweb.com. “This added presence is a key component of our overall
brand-building strategy to become the dominant Internet consumer automotive
service.”

Autoweb.com has similar agreements in place with Yahoo! and HotBot.

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