New York, NY - March 19, 2001. - In response to an inquiry conducted by The Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Lycos will make modifications to its Web site to further address children's privacy. Specifically, Lycos has made or agreed to make several modifications that will, in part, help prevent children from gaining access to activities that may be inappropriate for their age group.

However, one issue remains unresolved: the implementation of a tracking mechanism that will help bar children from areas of the Web site where they are not supposed to be. Lycos has stated that it is exploring the possibility of instituting such a mechanism, but has not committed to doing so.

CARU is pleased with these modifications and commitments but still believes that the implementation of a tracking mechanism is warranted. Such a mechanism would prevent a child, who has been initially rejected due to age restrictions, from being able to quickly re-register by hitting a back button and entering a different birth date.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising and resolved within 60 business days. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD Case Report. Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should e-mail CARU.