Continuing to make its presence felt in the United States, 1&1 Internet Inc. has won the U.S. Unix Web Hosting Award for January, 2005 from the Web Host Directory, a one-stop, vendor-neutral Website designed to help prospective customers compare and purchase hosting products and services.

“1&1 received the first place award because of its powerful Web Hosting packages and commitment to providing all the features and support that both novice and experienced users are demanding today,” the Web Hosting Directory said in a statement. “With 10 years of experience and 3.5 million Websites to its credit, 1&1 is an excellent choice for private users and small- to medium-sized businesses to fully harness the power of the Internet.”

The Web Host Directory’s awards are given to the best Web Hosting providers in a number of categories by calculating the votes received from visitors and from the Web Hosting Directory review board. Hosts are evaluated in several areas, including performance, cost, features, support, reliability and speed. The results are tabulated and double-checked for accuracy - removing duplicate ratings from any one voter. The Web Host Directory's review board then evaluates the top-rated hosts in each category, visiting each website before selecting award winners.

“This award adds further credibility to 1&1's position as an excellent choice for Web Hosting,” said 1&1 Chairman of the Board Andreas Gauger. “It confirms that our rapid growth in the United States is primarily due to the quality of the products we offer and the value they provide our users, and it is very satisfying to be acknowledged for this. “

The U.S. Unix Web Hosting Award is the fourth such honor 1&1 has received from Web Host Directory in less than one year. 1&1 garnered the same prize for August 2004; in June was named number one Shared Hosting Provider and in April was recognized as the top Budget Web Hosting Provider. 1&1 was also named a top 10 Web Host for the fall of 2004 by Hostcompare.com and in July was listed as a Top 5 Host in HostIndex.com’s Top 25 Web Host Ranking.

1&1 launched its full line of products in the U.S. in January of 2004 and has enjoyed brisk growth ever since. By last fall 1&1 had already become one of the 10 largest Web Hosts in the country and, to date, has signed up nearly 400,000 new users domestically. Netcraft, an independent Internet research and analysis firm, in December released statistics indicating that 1&1 was the world fastest-growing Web Host in 2004.