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Dialog Launches DialogPRO NewsEdge, Latest in a Series of Business Intelligence Services for Small Businesses Worldwide

"A Real-World Service For Today's Real-Life Small Business Owners & Managers"

CARY, N.C., USA (February 25, 2004) — Dialog, a Thomson (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, today announced the launch of DialogPRO NewsEdge, its latest service designed for small business owners and managers worldwide.

DialogPRO ("predictable research online") NewsEdge is a high-value, easy-to-use news alerting tool, available for subscription at fixed monthly fees, that delivers real-time news provided by top news and research sources based across town and around the world, and also offers easy-to-use access to archives of previously reported news stories and research.

The service also features options for access to Editors' Picks and Editors' Updates, daily news briefing services personally managed by highly experienced Dialog editors who specialize in individual industry sectors.

By subscribing to DialogPRO NewsEdge, small business owners and managers can have fast access to critical news reports distributed by wire services and published in newspapers, magazines and professional journals, as well as hard-to-find reports and data produced by government agencies and research analysts.

"DialogPRO NewsEdge is a real-world service for real-life small businesses," said Cynthia Murphy, Dialog senior vice president, strategic marketing. "There is a huge avalanche of raw information on the open Web. But in the real world, small business owners and managers do not have the time, or perhaps the search skills, to go find what they need to make their businesses more successful."

Added Murphy: "When it comes to tracking relevant, business-critical news, DialogPRO NewsEdge does the heavy lifting. It delivers what small business owners and managers need to know, effortlessly."

Subscribers set up customized "information profiles" to receive only those news reports focused on their industries, competitors and related topics relevant to their businesses. As new content is added to Dialog's vast information warehouse (a continuous process, every minute of every day), news reports are processed through the profiles. Matching news reports and research may then be delivered via e-mail during the business day or can be accessed and viewed online at any time.

"Targeted, timely news and focused research can make a big difference on the bottom line for small businesses," continued Murphy. "The right information, delivered in a format that is easy to use, can enable small businesses to be more knowledgeable about their industries and markets. That can be a head start for outfoxing larger competitors, targeting emerging opportunities or making necessary strategic changes to marketing plans or product development strategies, for example."

Murphy said that one aspect of DialogPRO NewsEdge that is particularly noteworthy is the global nature of the content available through the new service. "Some people might assume that a small business owner or manager is interested only in news happening in their hometowns. And while we do provide those local content sources, there is a huge benefit to having relevant news tracked worldwide. Why can't a small business owner in Pittsburgh, for example, learn from a situation facing a similar business in Sydney?"

Said Murphy: "Worldwide business intelligence is not just for big corporations. It can be a catalyst for success for any-sized operation."

Specific features available through DialogPRO NewsEdge include:

• base content of more than 2,000 sources, including real-time reports from newswires such as The Associated Press and PR Newswire, among others
  
  
• options for access to a larger content pool culled from 8,000 sources
  
  
• the ability to schedule e-mail delivery of flagged reports during the business day
  
  
• access to that day's—as well as previous days—Editors' Picks and Editors' Updates
  
  
• "Enterprise Redistribution," the ability to relay flagged news reports and research to others within a subscribing company, and "Publishing Module," the ability to select news reports for user-created folders that may be shared with others
  
  
• "Company Watchlist," a financial markets tracking service based on stock symbols that offers access to detailed research, current market data and real-time news on monitored companies from around the world, enabling easy tracking of prospects, partners and larger competitors
  
  
• weather information, with the user able to customize data for specific cities and retrieve five-day forecasts.

(Note: some features are optional add-on services.)

DialogPRO NewsEdge combines attributes from two branded families of services offered by Dialog.

DialogPRO is a series of business intelligence services designed for small businesses, segmented into content channels (current roster: Advertising, Biotech, Competitive Intelligence, Consulting, Defense, Energy, Engineering, News, Patent and Trademark, with more expected to be added later). Dialog NewsEdge is an industry-specific, personalized current awareness and news alerting service designed primarily for corporations and other large organizations.

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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 organizations 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 organizations 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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