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Dialog Profound^® Now Features Aroq Research on Automotive, Beverage/Drinks, Clothing & Food Industries Worldwide

LONDON (17 May 2004) — Dialog, a Thomson (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, said today that market reports prepared by Aroq, a British online publisher specialising in business research, are now available through the Dialog Profound® service.

Dialog Profound is the professional information market's most comprehensive source of market research, with a continuously updated collection of more than 200,000 market research reports contributed by some 130 top research firms covering industries and companies worldwide.

Aroq research reports are now available through Dialog Profound for electronic searching and purchase. The reports cover the global automotive, beverage/drinks, clothing and food industries. Research is conducted and reports written by Aroq's network of industry specialists, based throughout the world.

"Aroq is widely respected in the industries it covers, with research that is insightful, accurate and superbly written," said Viji Krishnan, Dialog vice president, publisher management. "We're delighted to add their reports to Dialog Profound for our subscribers around the world."

Aroq's reports, which may be displayed on-screen and also downloaded in PDF format, include:

• Management Briefings: In-depth research focused on specific aspects of an industry, with analysis and opinion. Examples of themes discussed in Management Briefings include global industry overviews, supply chain analysis, regional updates and new technology for each of the covered industries. Briefings run between 15 to 65 pages each.
  
  
• Global Market Reviews: Market research reports that focus on individual sectors within covered industries. For example, Aroq produces Global Market Review reports on the bodywork and trim component sectors as part of its coverage of the automotive industry. Typical Market Review reports are 30 to 145 pages in length.
  
  
• Company Profiles: Extensive reports offering full reporting and analysis about individual companies. Individual report sections detail such topics as company structure, products/services, customer descriptions, financial performance, strategy, investment, regional activities, product development and future prospects. Company Profiles are usually at least 25 pages long.

"Aroq is very pleased to offer its expanding research portfolio to Dialog users. This marks a significant step forward in Aroq's reaching a global audience," said Andrew Leighton, Aroq business development manager.

New Version of Dialog Profound

Dialog recently released a new version of Dialog Profound when it began utilising a new technology platform for its line of business information, news and market research services. A new version of Dialog® NewsRoom, a current awareness and news research service, also is now operating on the new platform and from the same interface. Three other Dialog services — Dialog Intelliscope^SM, Dialog Company Profiles and Dialog NewsEdge® — will be re-launched on the new platform later this year.

"One of the strong attributes of Aroq reports is the ability to drill down to get detailed reporting and analysis of sectors within the industries covered," said Krishnan. "And by offering Aroq research through the new Dialog Profound along with research from many other leading analyst firms, we've made it easier for both the occasional user and the professional searcher to get to the broadest possible array of the market research they need."

Dialog Profound users may purchase sections of market research reports rather than the entire document, which may contain detailed information not necessary for a particular research project.

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About AROQ
Aroq Limited is the publisher of four respected online industry information services: just-auto.com, just-drinks.com, just-food.com and just-style.com. These sites serve a combined 6,000 global subscribers via paid subscription to latest global news, in-depth weekly articles, monthly management briefings and comprehensive global market review reports. More than 500,000 industry professionals visit one or more of the four portals each month, of which 150,000 subscribe to e-mail newsletters. Aroq's output is written by some of the best and brightest industry analysts and editors writing today.

Since 1999, the sites have developed into leading online brands of quality, relevant and timely industry information. Aroq's subscriber base includes 70% of Fortune's Most Admired Global Companies, the majority of global financial services companies, the world's leading academic institutions and governmental departments. Forty percent of the subscriber base is located in North America, and 40% in Western Europe.

About Dialog and The Thomson Corporation
Dialog, a pioneer in developing the technology behind electronic information retrieval, is the world leader in providing online-based information services to organisations seeking competitive advantages in such fields as business, science, engineering, finance and law.

Today, the online services provided by Dialog — offered through the Dialog®, Dialog Profound®, Dialog DataStar™, NewsEdge and Intelligence Data brands — give users the ability to precisely retrieve data from more than 1.4 billion unique records, accessible via the Internet or through delivery to enterprise intranets. Searchable content includes articles and reports from thousands of real-time news feeds, newspapers, broadcast transcripts and trade publications, plus research reports and analyst notes providing support for financial decision-making, as well as in-depth repositories of scientific and technical data, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property data. Information professionals and end-users at business, professional and government organisations in more than 100 countries prize Dialog services for their depth and breadth of content, precision searching and speed.

Based in Cary, N.C., USA, Dialog has operations in 31 other countries. Dialog (www.dialog.com) is a business of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). With 2003 revenues of US$7.6 billion, Thomson (www.thomson.com) is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers.

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All designated trademarks used herein are the property of The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries. Registered marks are registered by The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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