Hitachi, Ltd. ("Hitachi") and ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. ("ValueCommerce") 
announced today that they will be working together to offer ValueCommerce's Internet 
marketing service, a performance marketing model, which allows advertising costs to 
be based on advertising results, as a complementary aspect to Hitachi's Internet
-based service, e-Transformation Service, focused toward consumers and businesses, 
from late September.

One of the limitations of the guaranteed-click banner advertising model on the 
Internet has been the inability to connect the results of an advertisement with 
sales that occur, and, although the advertising cost of each click or impression 
is fixed, determining the effectiveness of Internet advertising has been difficult. 

The ValueCommerce performance marketing model consists of a platform through which an 
Internet user can follow an ad link placed on an Affiliate's website to conduct an e-
commerce transaction and purchase products and services on a Merchant site. When such 
a transaction occurs, the referring Affiliate is rewarded with a commission that is 
based on the sale total. 

Because ValueCommerce's performance marketing model enables the efficient usage of the 
advertising budget and Internet marketing, Hitachi will offer introduce the performance 
marketing model as one part of the services available through their e-Transformation
Service.  Utilizing ValueCommerce's performance marketing model, the ValueCommerce 
Network, customers who have established an online presence and incorporated e-commerce 
capabilities into their site will be capable of analyzing the purchasing trends of 
users, which will aid in developing more attractive online promotions, an essential 
item for extending e-commerce based sales. And, by applying the analytical functions 
of the service, customers who have newly set up an e-Shop will be able to participate 
in jointly developed services such as the Business Evaluation Service. The performance 
marketing model is scheduled to be introduced at the eight e-Transformation Centers 
nationwide. E-Transformation Centers make available e-Consultation and e-Demonstration 
services, and ValueCommerce's services will be introduced as one of the core elements 
in building the value chain of Internet businesses. Hitachi also plans to offer the 
service at TWX-21, Japan's largest e-marketplace. Hitachi will focus on customer 
development and sales support, and ValueCommerce will handle post-sales support 
activities.


About ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.

ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. is the leader of performance marketing in Japan. 
ValueCommerce¡¡Program services were launched in November 1999, and the Network 
has expanded rapidly to comprise over 290 Merchants, including some of the 
Internet's leading content providers and merchants, and over 14,000 Affiliates. 
ValueCommerce promotes and services Merchant and Affiliate partnerships through 
its website:URL:http://www.valuecommerce.ne.jp.