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JUPITERMEDIA'S JUPITER RESEARCH REPORTS THAT OVER 44% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS WILL BE VIEWING BILLS ONLINE BY 2006

50 Million Households Expected to View Bills in 2006

(New York, NY - October 14, 2002) - Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM) (formerly INT Media Group, Inc.), today reported that online bill viewing and payment will be among the fastest growing consumer applications over the next three years. By 2006, more than 50 million households will view bills online and 52 million households will pay at least one bill online. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% over 2001's figure of 18 million U.S. households who viewed at least one bill online.

The Jupiter Research report titled, "Payments & Transactions: Online Bill Viewing & Payment Forecast, 2001 - 2006," finds that in 2001, consumers viewed 643 million bills online, representing 6% of total U.S. consumer bills. This figure will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41% to 3.5 billion bills in 2006, accounting for 32% of all U.S. consumer bills.

"Firms that issue simple bills should discard the notion of attracting consumers to their Web sites for marketing opportunities; instead, they should invest based on the cost savings they will derive from working with bill aggregators and, over time, eliminating paper statements," said Rob Leathern, Jupiter Research Senior Analyst. "As banks become the natural hubs for consumers' future aggregated bill viewing, they must build out their online servicing capabilities and create value-added applications to cement customer loyalty."

Existing Financial Relationships Lead to Aggregated Bill Viewing
Jupiter Research reports that while direct biller sites today account for 83% of bills viewed online, this will fall to 60% by 2006, with 40% of bills viewed at consolidators' sites in 2006. Consumers who are interested in viewing and paying their bills in a single venue say they would prefer to do so at their primary banking provider's site. This tendency increases among more experienced online users: 32% of users who have five or more years of online experience prefer a bank site compared with 23% of users who have been online for a year or less. As consumers spend more time online, they tend to replicate many of their offline relationships, and they often use the online offerings of their existing banks and brokerage houses.

Online Bill Viewing will Reach 44% of U.S. Households by 2006
Billers interviewed by Jupiter Research found that customers who utilize online billing are more satisfied and have a greater affinity for the company's brand. The report also found that online billing customers are more profitable and loyal than traditional consumers.

"Early consumer adopters of online billing are likely already a company's best customers," says Leathern. "As more customers become experienced using the Internet, the increased demand for the convenience of online billing will make a robust online billing offering a cost of doing business."

Additional highlights and forward-looking analysis from "Payments & Transactions: Online Bill Viewing & Payment Forecast, 2001 - 2006" include:

  • Merchants with complex bills (e.g. credit card issuers and wireless and long-distance service providers) have seen strong growth in the number of customers viewing bills at their Web sites over the past 18 months, but in many cases are still sending paper statements to the majority of their online customers.
  • Many users, while ready to view their bills online, are not yet prepared to make a payment at the biller's site. Data from a recent Jupiter Research consumer survey highlight this phenomenon: for example, while 36% of surveyed online consumers view their credit card statement online on a regular basis, only 23% pay it online regularly and many of these consumers do so via their bank's bill payment engine, not at the biller's site.
  • Consumer interest in ISP and portal bill payment offerings remains weak. Less than 6% of online users prefer a portal's aggregated bill viewing and payment offering.

Jupiter Research Payment & Transactions Report Methodology
The core of Jupiter Research's products is the perspective and opinion of its research professionals. Jupiter Research analysts are immersed in the industries they cover through ongoing contact with corporate and technology leaders, daily study of trends and events in the online world, and their collective professional experience. Individual analyst perspectives are filtered through rigorous collective debate and deliberation, producing research that reflects the combined sensibilities of Jupiter Research's entire team. Analyst perspectives are enhanced and refined through Jupiter Research-designed market research. Specialists with Jupiter Research's Data Research Group assist analysts in the technical development of these tools, such as survey design, sample building, data weighting and data analysis.

About Jupitermedia Corporation
Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM), (www.jupitermedia.com) headquartered in Darien, CT, is a leading provider of global real-time news, information, research and media resources for information technology and Internet industry professionals. Jupitermedia includes the internet.com and EarthWeb.com Network of over 150 Web sites and 200 e-mail newsletters that generate over 200 million page views monthly. Jupitermedia also includes Jupiter Research (www.jupiterresearch.com), a leading international research advisory organization specializing in business and technology market research in 17 business areas and 9 vertical markets. In addition, Jupiter Events include nearly 40 offline conferences and trade shows focused on IT and business-specific topics.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties address a variety of subjects including, for example, the competitive environment in which Jupitermedia Corporation competes; the unpredictability of Jupitermedia Corporation's future revenues, expenses, cash flows and stock price; Jupitermedia Corporation's ability to integrate acquired businesses, products and personnel into its existing businesses; Jupitermedia Corporation's investments in international and venture fund investments; any material change in Jupitermedia Corporation's intellectual property rights and continued growth and acceptance of the Internet and information technology. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and uncertainties, refer to Jupitermedia Corporation's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date of this press release, and Jupitermedia Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements after the date hereof.

For information contact:
Ben Billingsly or Michelle Quinell
Trylon Communications
(212) 725-2295
[email protected]
[email protected]

All current Jupiter Research press releases can be found online at www.internet.com/corporate/press.html.

All current Jupitermedia Corporation press releases can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.internet.com/corporate/press.html.


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